Displaced Gazas Seek Refuge in Yasser Arafat’s Ruined Villa

The former Gaza residence of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat now lies in ruins — a haunting reflection of the widespread devastation across the territory — yet within its shattered walls, several displaced families have found a fragile sanctuary.

AFPTV footage shows the once-grand villa, which had been converted into a museum following Arafat’s death in 2004, surrounded by heaps of rubble. The structure, adorned with murals honouring the former Palestinian president, stands in Gaza City’s Rimal neighbourhood and bears the deep scars of repeated Israeli air strikes over the past two years of war that followed Hamas’s unprecedented assault on Israel on 7 October 2023.

Among those taking refuge in the remains of the house is Ashraf Nafeth Abu Salem, a university professor who moved in with his family and several others after their own homes were destroyed. He said he had taken it upon himself to clear away the debris that filled the courtyard of the residence, which was “largely destroyed and burned”.

A metal door leading from the villa to the street still bears a poster of Arafat wearing his trademark black-and-white keffiyeh and dark sunglasses. Behind his image appears a smaller portrait of the current Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas.

Inside, Abu Salem carefully leafed through a worn, yellowed book bearing Arafat’s portrait on the cover. “We belong to the generation of the first intifada in 1987. We grew up throwing stones,” he recalled.

“For us, President Abu Ammar was a model and a symbol of the Palestinian national struggle,” he said, using Arafat’s affectionate nickname among supporters.

According to United Nations data analysed by AFP, nearly three-quarters of all buildings in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed during the two-year conflict, generating more than 61 million tonnes of debris — a stark testament to the scale of the devastation endured by the enclave and its people.