Al-Zahra (Arabic: الزهراء) is a Palestinian municipality in the Gaza Governorate, south of Gaza and north of the Wadi Gaza, in the central Gaza Strip. The University of Palestine and Ummah Open University are located there. In 2017, it had a population of 5,338.[2] There were 837 housing units and 237 other buildings in the town.[3]
Yasser Arafat established Al-Zahra in the 1990s as a residential area for Palestine Authority staff and supporters. It remained a neighborhood with larger houses and more open space than others in Gaza City.[4] In the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, it was untouched by airstrikes until October 19, 2023, when several apartment blocks were bombed by the Israel Defense Forces.[5]
References
- ^ "Gaza neighbourhood flattened and hospital told to evacuate". BBC News. 2023-10-21. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
- ^ a b Preliminary Results of the Population, Housing and Establishments Census, 2017 (PDF). Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) (Report). State of Palestine. February 2018. pp. 64–82. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
- ^ 2009 Census Archived November 14, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p. 61.
- ^ Alice Cuddy (November 10, 2023). "The end of Gaza's most beautiful neighbourhood". BBC News. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
- ^ "'I'm calling from Israeli intelligence. We have the order to bomb. You have two hours'". BBC News. November 8, 2023. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
