For the past two years, he has fled from neighborhood to neighborhood in Gaza City from the bombings and raids of the Israeli army. After the approximately one million inhabitants were forced by Israel to move south in October 2023 and were largely displaced, Mayor Yahya al-Sarraj remained in his city. “It was my duty to stay among the people,” he says by telephone from Gaza City.
It is the morning after heavy Israeli bombardments on Gaza. Over the course of Wednesday, the death toll will rise to more than a hundred, including at least 46 children. At the end of September, Al-Sarraj was one of the signatories of a letter to US President Donald Trump. Together with about twenty academics, local leaders and activists from Gaza, he called for a truce. Israel was in the process of renewing the siege of Gaza City and expelling its population south as a prelude to a military occupation.
The city, which was already largely in ruins, was further destroyed: the army systematically blew up buildings in neighborhoods such as Zeitoun. Hundreds of thousands of residents fled south again after returning during the previous truce, which was unilaterally broken by Israel. Since an agreement was reached on October 9 on the first phase of Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza, displaced Palestinians have returned again.
What is the situation now in Gaza City?
“Since the Israeli attacks have resumed, fear has returned with the sound of planes and bombs. In recent weeks, civilians have regained some of their lives. Some aid supplies have returned to the city, although in small quantities. We see people returning every day. Precise figures are lacking, but it is estimated that half a million inhabitants now live in the city. About eight in ten houses have been destroyed. Many families live in tents or in houses with sometimes only one room left standing.”
More than a hundred people were killed in heavy Israeli bombardments on Gaza on Wednesday, including at least 46 children.
Photo Mahmoud Issa/REUTERS
Do you still have confidence in a file?
“Since October 2023, I have not lost hope for a moment that the aggression will one day end, and that we will remain in Gaza. Trump has been determined and steadfast over the past period. I think he has discovered the lies and games of the Israelis. Israel will bomb and kill people again every now and then. I hope that the negotiators are committed and that Trump and the Arab states guarantee that this stops.”
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Al-Sarraj says that his municipality is carrying out recovery work in the city, maintaining contact with international aid organizations. The Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip has 25 municipalities. They operate independently of the central Hamas government, which came to power in Gaza in 2007 after the 2005 elections. The municipalities receive their income from taxes, service costs and American and European donor funds, among other things, but since October 2023 they have been faced with ongoing budget deficits and debts due to the blockade and arrears.
What services are still provided by the municipality?
“We have four priorities: water distribution, sewage rehabilitation, waste management and reopening streets closed by Israeli bombardments. Our options are of course limited. We need cement to build water pipes, sewage systems and water pump buildings. But Israel does not allow cement into Gaza, nor trucks or excavators. The equipment we have is destroyed or outdated. We do not have enough drinking water because the main desalination plants are no longer functioning. Most of the water is salty or polluted. We can only meet a quarter of the water needs.”
Since October 2023, I have not for a moment lost hope that one day the aggression will end, and we will remain in Gaza
What are your thoughts on the “economic development plan” for Gaza highlighted in Trump’s 20-point plan?
“Reconstruction is inappropriate and pointless without consultation with the Palestinians. Since early 2024, the Gaza Strip municipal government has been working on a reconstruction plan, Gaza Phoenix, which was officially announced in early 2025. It proposes three phases: the current emergency, an intermediate phase of stabilization, and reconstruction. It contains ambitions for the development of trade, industry, tourism, and the construction of a railway. We hope that this plan will be achieved, because it represents the needs of the Palestinian people. The Israeli army says it will begin reconstruction in areas under its control. But there are no more inhabitants, so who is this reconstruction for?
“Since the Israeli attacks resumed, fear has returned with the sound of planes and bombs,” says Mayor Al-Sarraj.
Photo Jehad Alshrafi/AP
What have the past two years been like for you as mayor?
“Gaza City was developing before October 2023, despite the Israeli blockade. But in the past two years everything has been destroyed. Virtually not a tree is left standing. Many historic buildings have been destroyed. One of the oldest churches in the world, St. Porphyry’s Church, has been bombed twice. Muslims and Christians sheltering in the church have also been killed. The Grand Omari Mosque, in the past a temple and then a church, has been mercilessly destroyed. bombed.
“In the town hall in the center of Gaza City we had an archive, with manuscripts that were up to two hundred years old. The army called me to announce that they were going to bomb that place. I said there was a historical archive, but they bombed it anyway, and a fire destroyed valuable documents. Fortunately, we have digital copies. These places told our history, which goes back five thousand years. A lot of restoration work can be done, but it will never be the same again.”
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