Just months before Israel’s war with Hamas erupted, influencers and Palestinian families alike flocked to Gaza’s sun-kissed beaches and thriving holiday resorts.
Umbrellas lined the sandy coastal beaches as swimmers took to the sea, diving, splashing and playing water games.
Boats flooded the Mediterranean Sea full of sun-soaking holidaymakers and locals looking to enjoy a cruise, explore the waters and see different views of the Gazan skyline.
Visitors could be seen posing for photos along the shores of the popular beaches and smiling children enjoyed camel rides from local vendors.
Influencers would highlight the city’s best cafes and restaurants, museums, tourist attractions and secret escapes on their TikTok accounts, showing off a region resembling popular European resort towns.
But 16 months after Hamas launched its October 7 attack on Israel, the once beautiful coastal region is now in ruin. Israeli bombardment and ground operations have transformed entire neighborhoods in several cities into rubble-strewn wastelands, with blackened shells of buildings and mounds of debris stretching in all directions.
Major roads have been plowed up, critical water and electricity infrastructure has been destroyed, most hospitals no longer function and many locals have been left with nothing and no way to rebuild.
US President Donald Trump has proposed an audacious plan to takeover the region and rebuild it into the ‘Riviera of the Middle East’, while forcing Gaza’s 1.8million Palestinian population to move to neighboring countries.
Just months before Israel ‘s war with Hamas erupted, influencers and Palestinian families alike flocked to Gaza ‘s sun-kissed beaches and thriving holiday resorts. This is how the beach in Gaza looked before the war
Boats flooded the Mediterranean Sea full of sun-soaking holidaymakers and locals looking to enjoy a cruise, explore the waters and see different views of the Gazan skyline
Palestinians enjoy at the beach, along the shore of Gaza City, on April 27, 2023
Boats lined the Gazan shores as visitors, fishermen and locals took to the sea
Palestinians bathe at the Mediterranean beach, during the hot weather in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, just two months before Hamas’ October 7, 2023 terror attack
Influencers would highlight the city’s best cafes, restaurants and secret escapes on their TikTok accounts, showing off a region resembling popular European resort towns
Palestinians gather on the beach in Gaza City during a heat wave on June 2, 2023
An influencer, posing in front of Van Gogh’ Starry Night, visits an apparent art museum in Gaza in the summer of 2023
Gaza’s beaches for years offered locals refuge, especially during the hot summer months.
‘The sea is our only refuge in Gaza,’ a mother-of-six told the Al Jazeera newspaper in August 2023, just two months before the war broke out.
‘During the summer vacation, hours of power outages increased unbearably, coinciding with the sharp heatwave that hit the world, and the sea was our only destination.’
Families could enjoy an inexpensive day out at the free public beaches on the strip, while those looking for a more luxurious experience go visit paid beach spots.
Visitors would be treated to air carnivals, in which kites filled the skies. The colorful scene was reinforced by the slew of umbrellas dotting the beach.
Local vendors would sell snacks, cold drinks, and sand toys to beachgoers.
Tourists previously hailed the strip’s beach resorts as ‘excellent’ and a ‘beautiful place to relax’, according to reviews posted on Google and TripAdvisor.
One review of the no longer operating four-star Nlue Beach Resort described it as a ‘fabulous place’, while another said: ‘Love it, It has been inhabitation from thousand of years.’
Another tourists described the Gaza strip as a ‘very nice coastal place to enjoy the summer with your family.’
Palestinians are enjoying the beach of the Mediterranean Sea on the coast of Gaza City, Palestine, on June 2, 2023, during a heat wave
A man jumps into the sea to cool himself off during the hot weather in Gaza City, Gaza on September 08, 2023
Beachgoers would enjoy stunning sunsets on over the Mediterranean Sea
Families could enjoy an inexpensive day out at the free public beaches on the strip, while those looking for a more luxurious experience go visit paid beach spots
Gaza’s beaches for years offered locals refuge, especially during the hot summer months
Influencers would highlight the city’s best cafes, restaurants and secret escapes on their TikTok accounts, showing off a region resembling popular European resort towns
Palestinians trying to survive under difficult conditions due to Israeli attacks are seen spending time on the beach during sunset in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on December 31, 2023
A Gazan mosque is pictured in summer 2023, before much of the strip was reduced to rubble
Trump on Tuesday outlined a new plan for the Middle East in which the US takes over the Gaza strip while its Palestinian population is moved to neighboring countries.
Trump, a property developer who sees the world in terms of deals, has long talked up Gaza’s coastal location and pleasant climate as a perfect holiday vacation.
The President had the jaw-dropping declaration during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.
‘The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too,’ Trump said Tuesday at a press conference alongside Netanyahu.
‘We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site … level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings.’
In Trump’s vision, US reconstruction would create thousands of jobs and spare Palestinians the pain and expense of rebuilding once again.
When a reporter asked if that might involve military force, the President answered: ‘If it’s necessary.’
And when asked who would live there, he answered: ‘I envision world people living there. The world’s people. I think you’ll make that into an international, unbelievable place.’
Palestinian children take part in the Gaza Swimming Carnival on the beach of Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip on August 26, 2023
A Palestinian girl plays with water on the beach amidst soaring temperatures and power cuts in Gaza City on August 06, 2023.
An influencer shows off a resort in Gaza in a TikTok from 2023, before the region was reduced to rubble amid Israel’s war with Hamas
Palestinians spend time at the beach in western Gaza City on August 19, 2023
Palestinians gather on the beach in Gaza City during a heat wave on June 2, 2023
Palestinians enjoy the beach of the Mediterranean Sea on the coast of Gaza City, on May 31, 2023
Palestinians enjoy at the beach, along the shore of Gaza City, on April 27, 2023
Trump claimed his plans were based on humanitarian ideals and backing at the highest levels. Yet the proposal to move out Gaza’s Palestinian two-million population will be seen as a call for ‘ethnic cleansing’ by opponents.
Control of the territory has been one of the key flashpoints in the Arab-Israeli conflict, triggering waves of violence and spreading instability through the region for decades.
At the moment, Hamas controls the territory and holds hostages, while a shaky ceasefire endures.
Netanyahu, who faces the threat of international prosecution and weakening support at home, could not help but beam as the president outlined his latest proposal. He praised Trump for his radical thinking.
The Israeli Prime Minister said it was worth paying attention to Trump’s latest idea for a ‘different future’ for a patch of land riven by terrorism.
‘You see things others refuse to see,’ he said. ‘You say things others refuse to say.’
He added: ‘And after the jaws drop people scratch their heads and they say, you know, he’s right.’
An influencer shows off a cute garden eatery at a restaurant in Gaza in 2023
Visitors used to flock to Gazan resorts to enjoy private pools and relaxation
Palestinian girls are taking a group picture on the beach during the last day of 2023 off the coast of Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on December 31, 2023
Palestinians swim in Gaza Beach to cool off on a hot day and enjoy during the sunset, Friday, on June 23, 2023
Palestinians writing by sea sand a slogan say ”From Gaza to Jaffa, Jaffa is the sea bride” on a beach in Gaza City, on August 28, 2023
Palestinians enjoy in front of Gaza beach during sunset, on March 10, 2023
Palestinian children take part in the Gaza Swimming Carnival on the beach of Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip on August 26, 2023
Palestinians enjoy the beach at Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday, July 28, 2023, amidst soaring temperatures and power cuts in Gaza
Palestinian children ride a camel on the beach during a hot day in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, 11 June 2023
An influencer shows off a Mercedes Benz at a car dealership in Gaza in 2023
Meanwhile, the United Nations says that it could take more than 350 years to rebuild Gaza. Pictured is the coastal region before the Israel-Hamas war
Meanwhile, the United Nations says that it could take more than 350 years to rebuild Gaza if the blockade remains.
The full extent of the damage will only be known when the fighting ends and inspectors have full access to the territory.
The most heavily destroyed part of Gaza, in the north, had been sealed off and largely depopulated by Israeli forces in an operation that began in early October.
The UN estimated last month that 69 per cent of the structures in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, including over 245,000 homes.
The World Bank estimated $18.5billion in damage – nearly the combined economic output of the West Bank and Gaza in 2022 – from just the first four months of the war.
Israel blames the destruction on Hamas, which ignited the war with its Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250.
American officials say it will take longer than the three to five years envisaged in existing peace talks to rebuild Gaza, which has been flattened by Israeli strikes
Palestinians walk on the rubble of destroyed houses, after the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025
A Palestinian man rides a bicycle past the rubble of a house destroyed during the Israeli offensive, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip February 4, 2025
Ismael Mohammed, 47, who was displaced with his family to the southern part of Gaza at Israel’s order during the war, rests with his children near the rubble of their destroyed house after returning to it amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip, January 30, 2025
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 47,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were fighters.
Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. The military has released photos and video footage showing that Hamas built tunnels and rocket launchers in residential areas, and often operated in and around homes, schools and mosques.
Before anything can be rebuilt, the rubble must be removed – a staggering task in itself. The UN estimates that the war has littered Gaza with over 50 million tons of rubble – roughly 12 times the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
With over 100 trucks working full time, it would take over 15 years to clear the rubble away, and there is little open space in the narrow coastal territory that is home to some 2.3million Palestinians.
