Two years ago, Gaza’s largest city 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 Gaza City 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.
Normal life in the coastal enclave collapsed after Israel’s brutal retaliation to Hamas’ attack.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
