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Gaza Home Demolitions Stir Palestinian Frustration

Some in Gaza's Al-Shati refugee camp say the road project causes hardship to the community © MAHMUD HAMS / AFP
Some in Gaza's Al-Shati refugee camp say the road project causes hardship to the community © MAHMUD HAMS / AFP
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Gaza Home Demolitions Stir Palestinian Frustration

Some in Gaza's Al-Shati refugee camp say the road project causes hardship to the community © MAHMUD HAMS / AFP
Some in Gaza's Al-Shati refugee camp say the road project causes hardship to the community © MAHMUD HAMS / AFP

Ramadan Abu Saif looked on as bulldozers ploughed into his neighbour's Gaza City home, knowing his could be next as an infrastructure project surges forward in the impoverished Palestinian enclave.

Last month, Hamas militants who govern Gaza began demolishing 62 houses at Al-Shati refugee camp as they widen the territory's main coastal road.

Most of the affected residents accepted financial compensation totalling some $3 million in exchange for giving up their homes, Hamas government spokesperson Salameh Maarouf said.

But a handful have refused, instead facing down a move they say is destroying their community.

Every morning for around a week, families -- many of them refugees in Gaza from the 1948 conflict following Israel's creation -- watched as their houses were reduced to rubble.

Abu Saif told AFP he supported the road project but not if it meant losing both his two-storey home and his cafe next door which looks out to the sea.

The 58-year-old, whose family was displaced from Hamama -- now in southern Israel -- almost 75 years ago, said he had been offered around $225,000 for the house, a sum he said was "unfair".

"If they demolish my house, it means the death of my memories and the memories of my grandparents, father and mother," he said.

Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007 and has faced increasing pressure to improve living standards for the territory's 2.3 million residents despite a crippling Israeli blockade.

Hamas spokesman Maarouf described the road widening project as "vital" for addressing traffic jams that have long plagued the area.

"We held many meetings with the (home) owners... in the past weeks, and there was a positive response and desire from almost everyone," he said.

A community center which hosts a football field and halls for table tennis and parkour is also slated for demolition, as well as several United Nations administrative buildings.

An official at the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said "we have nothing to do with the demolition".

The agency withdrew from several facilities in the area "at the request of the (Hamas) government", the UN official said, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Kamal Saidam, 51, grew up playing sports in the community centre and was among those set to lose his house.

He said he was "not against" the road project but objected to it causing hardship to the community.

He watched on angrily as workers removed the last of the community centre's furniture in anticipation of its demolition.

"This club is one of the symbols of the camp," he said.

"I cannot imagine being displaced from here."

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Damascus’ Mazzeh 86 Neighborhood, Witness of The Two-Assad Era

Members of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent stand near the wreckage of a car after what the Syrian state television said was a "guided missile attack" on the car in the Mazzeh area of Damascus, Syria October 21, 2024. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi
Members of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent stand near the wreckage of a car after what the Syrian state television said was a "guided missile attack" on the car in the Mazzeh area of Damascus, Syria October 21, 2024. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi
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Damascus’ Mazzeh 86 Neighborhood, Witness of The Two-Assad Era

Members of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent stand near the wreckage of a car after what the Syrian state television said was a "guided missile attack" on the car in the Mazzeh area of Damascus, Syria October 21, 2024. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi
Members of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent stand near the wreckage of a car after what the Syrian state television said was a "guided missile attack" on the car in the Mazzeh area of Damascus, Syria October 21, 2024. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi

In the Mazzeh 86 neighborhood, west of the Syrian capital Damascus, the names of many shops, grocery stores, and public squares still serve as a reminder of the era of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his late father, Hafez al-Assad.

This is evident in landmarks like the “Al-Hafez Restaurant,” one of the prominent features of this area. Squares such as “Al-Areen,” “Officers,” and “Bride of the Mountain” evoke memories of the buildings surrounding them, which once housed influential officials and high-ranking officers in intelligence and security agencies. These individuals instilled fear in Syrians for five decades until their historic escape on the night of the regime’s collapse last month.

In this neighborhood, the effects of Israeli bombing are clearly visible, as it was targeted multiple times. Meanwhile, its narrow streets and alleys were strewn with military uniforms abandoned by leaders who fled before military operations arrived and liberated the area from their grip on December 8 of last year.

Here, stark contradictions come to light during a tour by Asharq Al-Awsat in a district that, until recently, was largely loyal to the former president. Muaz, a 42-year-old resident of the area, recounts how most officers and security personnel shed their military uniforms and discarded them in the streets on the night of Assad’s escape.

He said: “Many of them brought down their weapons and military ranks in the streets and fled to their hometowns along the Syrian coast.”

Administratively part of Damascus, Mazzeh 86 consists of concrete blocks randomly built between the Mazzeh Western Villas area, the Mazzeh Highway, and the well-known Sheikh Saad commercial district. Its ownership originally belonged to the residents of the Mazzeh area in Damascus. The region was once agricultural land and rocky mountain terrain. The peaks extending toward Mount Qasioun were previously seized by the Ministry of Defense, which instructed security and army personnel to build homes there without requiring property ownership documents.

Suleiman, a 30-year-old shop owner, who sells white meat and chicken, hails from the city of Jableh in the coastal province of Latakia. His father moved to this neighborhood in the 1970s to work as an army assistant.

Suleiman says he hears the sound of gunfire every evening, while General Security patrols roam the streets “searching for remnants of the former regime and wanted individuals who refuse to surrender their weapons. We fear reprisals and just want to live in peace.”

He mentioned that prices before December 8 were exorbitant and beyond the purchasing power of Syrians, with the price of a kilogram of chicken exceeding 60,000 Syrian pounds and a carton of eggs reaching 75,000.

“A single egg was sold for 2,500 pounds, which is far beyond the purchasing power of any employee in the public or private sector,” due to low salaries and the deteriorating living conditions across the country,” Suleiman added.

On the sides of the roads, pictures of the fugitive president and his father, Hafez al-Assad, were torn down, while military vehicles were parked, awaiting instructions.

Maram, 46, who previously worked as a civilian employee in the Ministry of Defense, says she is waiting for the resolution of employment statuses for workers in army institutions. She stated: “So far, there are no instructions regarding our situation. The army forces and security personnel have been given the opportunity for settlement, but there is no talk about us.”

The neighborhood, in its current form, dates back to the 1980s when Rifaat al-Assad, the younger brother of former President Hafez al-Assad, was allowed to construct the “Defense Palace,” which was referred to as “Brigade 86.” Its location is the same area now known as Mazzeh Jabal 86.

The area is divided into two parts: Mazzeh Madrasa (School) and Mazzeh Khazan (Tank). The first takes its name from the first school built and opened in the area, while the second is named after the water tank that supplies the entire Mazzeh region.

Two sources from the Mazzeh Municipality and the Mukhtar’s office estimate the neighborhood’s current population at approximately 200,000, down from over 300,000 before Assad’s fall. Most residents originate from Syria’s coastal regions, followed by those from interior provinces like Homs and Hama. There was also a portion of Kurds who had moved from the Jazira region in northeastern Syria to live there, but most returned to their areas due to the security grip and after the “Crisis Cell” bombing that killed senior security officials in mid-2012.

Along the main street connecting Al-Huda Square to Al-Sahla Pharmacy, torn images of President Hafez al-Assad are visible for the first time in this area in five decades. On balconies and walls, traces of Bashar al-Assad’s posters remain, bearing witness to his 24-year era.