As-salamu alaykum - Displaced families shelter in Yasser Arafat’s damaged villa in Gaza
As-salamu alaykum. The former home of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Gaza lies in ruins, much like many other buildings across the area, yet its battered rooms have become a refuge for several displaced families. A house that was turned into a museum after Arafat’s death in 2004, with murals honoring him, now sits amid rubble in the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City after heavy damage from strikes during the two-year war following the October 7, 2023 attacks.
Ashraf Nafeth Abu Salem, a university professor who is staying there with his family and others, said he cleaned debris from the courtyard, which was largely destroyed and burned. A metal gate opening to the street still has a poster of Arafat wearing his keffiyeh and sunglasses, with a smaller picture of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas beside him. Abu Salem flipped through an old yellowed book with Arafat’s portrait and reflected, “We belong to the generation of the first intifada. We grew up throwing stones. For us, President Abu Ammar was a model and a symbol of the Palestinian national struggle.”
According to UN data analyzed by journalists, about three-quarters of buildings in the Gaza Strip were destroyed over the two years of conflict, creating more than 61 million tons of debris. May Allah grant patience and relief to all those affected.
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