{{pp-extended|small=yes}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Al-Zahra | translit_lang1 = Arabic | translit_lang1_type = [[Arabic script|Arabic]] | translit_lang1_info = {{lang|ar|الزهراء}} | translit_lang1_type1 = [[Latin script|Latin]] | translit_lang1_info1 = Madinat Az-Zahra' (official)<br />Ezahra (unofficial) | type = [[Municipality (Palestinian Authority)|Municipality type C]] | image_skyline = An aerial view of heavily damaged collapsed buildings caused by Israeli airstrikes in Al-Zahra, near Gaza city.jpg | image_caption = Ruins in al-Zahra in November 2023 | image_blank_emblem = AlZahra_Logo.jpg | blank_emblem_type = Municipal Seal of Al-Zahra' Municipality | mapframe = yes | mapframe-zoom = 13 | pushpin_map = | pushpin_map_caption = | image_map = | map_caption = | coordinates = {{coord|31|28|17.69|N|34|24|4.62|E|region:PS|display=inline,title}} | grid_name = [[Palestine grid|Palestine&nbsp;grid]] | grid_position = | subdivision_type = State | subdivision_name = [[State of Palestine]] | subdivision_type1 = [[Governorates of the Palestinian National Authority|Governorate]] | subdivision_name1 = [[Gaza Governorate|Gaza]] | blank_name_sec1 = Etymology | blank_info_sec1 = ''The Rose'' | established_title = Founded | established_date = 1998 | government_footnotes = <!-- for references: use <ref> tags --> | government_type = [[Municipality (Palestinian Authority)|Municipality]] | leader_title = Control | leader_name = {{flagicon|Hamas}} [[Hamas]] | leader_title1 = Head of Municipality | leader_name1 = Tareq Hijo | unit_pref = dunam | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = 4.6 | area_total_dunam = 4634 | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = | elevation_min_m = | elevation_max_m = | population_footnotes = <ref name="PrelimCensus2017">{{cite report |date=February 2018 |title=Preliminary Results of the Population, Housing and Establishments Census, 2017 |url=https://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Downloads/book2364-1.pdf |department=[[Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics]] (PCBS) |publisher=[[State of Palestine]] |pages=64–82 |access-date=2023-10-24}}</ref> | population_total = 5338 | population_as_of = 2017 | population_note = | population_density_km2 = auto | website = | footnotes = }} '''Al-Zahra''' ({{langx|ar|الزهراء}}) is a [[Palestinian people|Palestinian]] municipality in the [[Gaza Governorate]], south of [[Gaza City|Gaza]] and north of the [[Wadi Gaza]], in the central [[Gaza Strip]]. The [[University of Palestine]] and [[Ummah Open University]] are located there. In 2017, it had a population of 5,338.<ref name="PrelimCensus2017" /> There were 837 housing units and 237 other buildings in the town.<ref>[http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/census2007/ind_loca_09.pdf 2009 Census] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101114002607/http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/census2007/ind_loca_09.pdf |date=November 14, 2010 }}. [[Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics]]. p.&nbsp;61.</ref>

[[Yasser Arafat]] established Al-Zahra in the 1990s as a residential area for [[Palestine Authority]] staff and supporters. It remained a neighborhood with larger houses and more open space than others in Gaza City.<ref>{{cite news |author=Alice Cuddy |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/extra/85JPWipoYZ/gaza_al_zahra |title=The end of Gaza's most beautiful neighbourhood |work=BBC News |date=November 10, 2023 |access-date=November 10, 2023 }}</ref> In 1998, a Bronze Age archaeological site was discovered at Al-Zahra during work on a housing project. The site was subsequently named [[Tell es-Sakan]] and investigated by archaeologists.<ref>{{cite book |last1=de Miroschedji |first1=Pierre |author-link1=Pierre de Miroschedji |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv310vqks.24 |title=Archaeological Perspectives on the Transmission and Transformation of Culture in the Eastern Mediterranean |last2=Sadeq |first2=Mo'ain |author-link2=Moain Sadeq |date=2005 |publisher=Council for British Research in the Levant |editor-last=Clarke |editor-first=Joanne |pages=155–169 |chapter=The frontier of Egypt in the Early Bronze Age: preliminary soundings at Tell es-Sakan (Gaza Strip) |jstor=j.ctv310vqks.24 |isbn=978-1-84217-168-4 |jstor-access=free}}</ref>

In the [[Gaza war]], it was untouched by airstrikes until October 19, 2023, when more than twenty apartment blocks were bombed by the [[Israel Defense Forces]].<ref>{{Cite news |title='I'm calling from Israeli intelligence. We have the order to bomb. You have two hours' |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67327079 |date=November 8, 2023 |access-date=November 9, 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-10-21 |title=Gaza neighbourhood flattened and hospital told to evacuate |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67180844 |access-date=2024-02-12 |work=[[BBC News]] |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

{{Gaza Governorate}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zahra}} [[Category:Villages in the Gaza Strip]] [[Category:Municipalities of Palestine]]

{{Palestine-geo-stub}}