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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Gaza’s biggest city is in chaos ahead of an imminent Israeli assault
By Mostafa Salem, Ibrahim Dahman, Oren Liebermann, Lou Robinson, CNN
Updated:
5:06 AM EDT, Sun August 24, 2025
Source: CNN
Two years ago, was sprawling with life. Classrooms brimmed with
schoolchildren, markets were full of shoppers and beachside cafes
offered respite for those escaping the stresses of a besieged enclave.
Gaza City boasts a rich history, inhabited for thousands of years and
shaped by successive takeovers from ancient civilizations. It served as
a key landing point for Palestinians displaced during Israel’s
founding in 1948 and has hundreds of millennia-old sites documenting
its past.
It was therefore no surprise that Islamist militant group Hamas chose
as its de facto capital when it seized control of the strip in 2007.
Years of conflict, a crippling blockade and Hamas’ autocratic rule
made life for Palestinians hard. But the institutions set up by the
militants, with help from regional governments like Qatar and a robust
United Nations aid system, gave some structure to the strip’s
exhausted population.
An established underground smuggling system gave Gaza City a taste of
the outside world amid the land, air and sea siege imposed by neighbors
Israel and Egypt – who both designate Hamas a terror organization.
While life was far from easy in Gaza City, with half the population
unemployed and Hamas’ police strictly patrolling the streets, you
could still get a matcha latte on the way to a yoga studio, or relax in
a park.
Today, what was once the cultural and financial hub of the enclave,
lies in lawless ruins, devastated by months of a brutal Israeli assault
triggered by Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel almost two years ago. And
as Israel’s plans to launch a new offensive on the densely populated
area to eliminate Hamas militants hiding underground, Palestinians of
the Gaza historic city reckon, once again, with mounting fears of
survival.
Life in Gaza City
Normal life in the coastal enclave collapsed after Israel’s brutal
retaliation to .
Hundreds of thousands sheltering in shattered buildings of the city
have been left to fend for themselves after the fall of Hamas’
policing apparatus. Unclear about their future, residents of Gaza City
listen for news of the next food shipment, or the sudden sound of a
trickle of salty water from bathroom pipes – which would give them a
rare chance for a shower.
Israel does not allow journalists into Gaza. CNN spoke to several of
Gaza City’s residents to paint a picture of how the city looks amidst
the war.
Tens of thousands of Israeli strikes have left the city’s many towers
lying in rubble as garbage and sewage water flood the streets. Black
smoke from burning plastic and wood, used by residents for fuel, fill
the skies and the sounds of overhead Israeli drones buzz non-stop amid
sporadic blasts from airstrikes nearby.
A chaotic web of wires from street generators supply power to those who
can afford to pay. Markets display a random assortment of exorbitantly
priced food items, possibly looted by criminal gangs from the few aid
trucks Israel allows into the strip.
Hospitals and pharmacies no longer function, and hygiene products
remain a scarcity for Palestinians, who say infestations of lice, a
lack of vitamins, with no food have left them ill and weak.
As night falls, armed thugs roam the streets and families pick up guns
to protect themselves. Cash can be transferred to Gaza through an
informal banking system – but those seeking to withdraw it are forced
to pay up to 50% in commission to individuals and groups controlling
the money supply.
Dogs ‘eating so many bodies’
Majdi Abu Hamdi, 40, a father of four, said dust from the explosions
chokes the streets and seeps into the homes that are still standing,
where blown-out windows make it hard to breathe.
Even stray dogs have changed their behaviour, he told CNN. “At night,
we hear dogs howling. They have turned wild from . Their barking has
changed, becoming fierce.”
“They are even dangerous to people, attacking residents savagely. Two
days ago, by mistake, a cat walked near them. More than twenty dogs
attacked and tore it apart,” he said.
He continued, “People may be thirty years old, but the exhaustion of
war makes them look seventy. Hunger and poor food wear them down. We
only use the bathroom every three days because of lack of food and high
prices.”
Hamas, once so visible on the streets of Gaza City, is now absent. Its
political offices, organizational municipalities and police stations
are destroyed, and its militants stay hidden.
“The sons of bitches have no control, it’s not like old times…
but sometimes you find them appearing suddenly, you don’t know where
from,” said Abu Mohamed, a resident of Gaza City who opposes Hamas.
The resident, who didn’t provide his full name out of fear of
Hamas’ retaliation, said the group has no forces visibly present, and
civilians do not know how the group organizes itself.
“They don’t have specific places where they gather. They have their
own special ways on how they communicate or how they organize… we
don’t know how they do that,” Abu Mohamed said of Hamas.
Bashar Taleb, a journalist in Gaza City, questioned the purpose of
Hamas’s weapons if they fail to protect Palestinians.
“What is the use of the weaponry if it has not protected a single
civilian, and has not prevented the hunger and the continuous death
that has lasted for nearly seven hundred days among innocent civilians
who have no power in this war,” Taleb wrote on Facebook.
“I want one reasonable person to answer me or to give me just one
benefit, even a single benefit, of Hamas’s weapons.”
Hamas isn’t a ‘static institution’
When an agreement was reached with Israel for a ceasefire and the
release of some hostages in January, armed members of Hamas emerged en
masse wearing their full uniform at a public square in Gaza City. It
was Hamas’ reminder that the group was still alive months after
Israel set out to destroy it.
In the weeks that followed, Hamas choreographed ceremonies to parade
its strength during scheduled releases of Israeli hostages captured on
October 7. The ceremonies were so infuriating to Israel that it
threatened to withdraw from the agreement.
In one of the most recent videos circulating on social media and
geolocated by CNN, an armed group of masked men chanted for Hamas’
armed wing – Al Qassam Brigades – while carrying automatic weapons.
The video, released in August, showed masked militants setting fire to
a vehicle and threatening “thieves and businessmen” who steal aid.
Self-styled as ‘Al Rade’a, or ‘The Deterring,’ the subgroup
said in its first statement that it was formed by Hamas’ security
apparatus to “deter monopolizing businessmen” and gangs who
collaborate with Israel in Gaza.
Al Rade’a claimed that it executed people who belong to gangs that
collaborate with Israel, including six people last month in the
southern city of Khan Younis.
“Let’s not forget Hamas is not a static institution or figure. They
started out with a certain number of fighters on October 7, and then
given the destruction and deaths inside Gaza, they’ve also gone on a
recruiting spree and replaced folks that were there,” Alex Plitsas, a
military expert and senior non-resident fellow for the Atlantic
Council, told CNN.
It is near-impossible to establish an accurate picture of the number of
Hamas militants remaining in Gaza City.
“Hamas is not a uniform force, while their government was elected in
Gaza and they have institutions that they’re responsible for, their
military wing doesn’t operate like a uniform military… they
effectively act like an insurgent force for an elected government that
is in the middle of a war, and they don’t play by the rules,”
Plitsas said.
‘They know we’re coming’
The takeover and occupation of the largest city in northern Gaza, which
Netanyahu said is one of the last Hamas strongholds, will require the
Israeli military to bring in 60,000 more reserve troops and extend the
service of another 20,000, in addition to those already called up.
An Israeli source said this week that the military will give
Palestinians approximately two months to evacuate the densely populated
area before the assault begins, setting a symbolic deadline of October
7, the two-year mark of the war.
Another Israeli military official could not provide a figure on how
many Hamas forces are in Gaza City, but the official said the Israel
Defense Forces (IDF) has not ventured deep into the area in nearly two
years of war.
The expectation is that troops will face an enemy that has had time to
dig in, using its extensive tunnel network under Gaza City
“They know we’re coming,” the official said, “so they prepare
for that.”
The Hamas “metro,” as Israel calls it, is more than just a system
of uniform tunnels, the official explained. It’s far more complex
than the IDF anticipated, with larger strategic hubs and branches, as
well as smaller tactical tunnels for quick movement and surprise
attacks.
Once Gaza City is evacuated, the IDF will likely strike an expanded set
of targets in the dense urban area, the official added, including sites
that weren’t struck before because of the density of the civilian
population.
But Israel’s incoming operation is drawing warning from governments
and aid groups, who remain concerned about the Israeli military’s
conduct over the past two years amid a high civilian casualty rate,
reports of war crimes, human rights abuses and aid blockades.
“The Israeli military would probably take a couple of months to go
into every single building, clear it up and hit all the tunnels. Is it
possible? Yes,” Plitsas said, “Is it extremely difficult and will
it take a lot of troops to clear and take all the territory? Also
yes.”
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