Palestine Square

{{Short description|City square in Gaza City, Palestine}} {{Infobox historic site | location = [[Gaza City]], [[Palestine]] |coordinates = {{Coord|31|30|22|N|34|27|42|E|type:landmark_region:PS|display=title, inline}} }}

'''Palestine Square''' ({{langx|ar|ميدان فلسطين|Mīdān Falastīn}}), also known as '''Al-Saha''' or '''As-Saha''' ({{langx|ar|الساحة}}, "the (community) space" or "the square"),<ref>{{cite news |title=Activists hold 'day of rage' protests against Prawer Plan |url=https://www.972mag.com/activists-stage-day-of-rage-protests-against-prawer-plan/ |access-date=24 January 2024 |work=+972 Magazine |date=30 November 2013 |quote=Palestine Square (al-Saha)}}</ref> is a city square in east-central [[Gaza City]], [[Palestine]], in between [[Jamal Abdel Nasser Street]] and [[Omar Mukhtar Street]]. It is the location of a bus station, a taxi station, a fruit market, the [[Al-Ahli Arab Hospital]], and dozens of small shops and vendors. Gaza's municipal headquarters is also located in the square. Palestine Square once was walled when it laid along the southern edge of the [[Old City of Gaza|Old City]], overlooking barley and vegetable farms, olive and almond groves.<ref>Doughty and El Aydi, 1995, pp.15-16</ref>

==History== During the construction of a shopping centre in 2016 the remnants of a Byzantine church were discovered.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Al-Mughrabi |first=Nidal |date=4 April 2025 |title=Builders find remnants from Byzantine period in Gaza |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinians-gaza-archaeology-idUSKCN0X117X/ |access-date=27 October 2025 |work=Reuters}}</ref>

===Gaza war=== On December 7, 2023, during the fighting in the [[Gaza war]], the [[Israeli Defense Forces]] conquered Palestine Square. On November 30, 2023, a week prior to the occupation, [[Hamas]] used Palestine Square as the venue for the [[2023 exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners|release of some of the hostages]] it was holding.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-12-08-23/h_7516b0f4b4970e9a01bffb26f1bb4739 |title=Israeli flag raised in symbolic Palestine Square in Gaza City, video shows |publisher=[[CNN]] |first1=Tamar |last1=Michaelis |first2=Sugam |last2=Pokharel |first3=Benjamin |last3=Brown |date=December 8, 2023}}</ref>{{dubious|1=Multiple Palestine Squares within Gaza?|date=December 2023|reason=There are apparently two Palestine Squares: not clear which one was conquered and which one was the venue for the hostage release.}}

On January 25, 2025, Hamas used the square to stage the release of four Israeli female soldiers held as hostage since October 7, 2023. It was the second round of hostage release as spelled out in the [[January 2025 Gaza war ceasefire|2025 ceasefire deal]] between Hamas and [[Israel]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Maarouf |first=Husam |title=The theatre of defiance: Hamas’ staged message to the world |url=https://www.trtworld.com/opinion/the-theatre-of-defiance-hamas-staged-message-to-the-world-18258218 |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=TRT World |language=en}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==Bibliography== {{refbegin}} *{{Citation |title=Israel and the Palestinian territories |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JXoY2vCZ5AEC&q=Israel+and+the+Palestinian+territories |first1=Daniel |last1=Jacobs |year=1998 |publisher=Rough Guides |isbn=978-1-85828-248-0}} *{{Citation |title=Gaza: legacy of occupation-a photographer's journey |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=epwIFMbFB6IC&q=Palestine+Square+Gaza&pg=PA15 |first1=Dick |last1=Doughty |first2=Mohammed |last2=El Aydi |year=1995 |publisher=Kumarian Press, Inc. |isbn=9781565490444}} {{refend}}

[[Category:Squares in Gaza City]]