Gaza’s Al-Baqa Cafe was a sanctuary amid the genocide. Now it lies in ruins
Gazans visit the ruins of Al-Baqa Cafe, Gaza City, after Israeli forces dropped a 500lb bomb on the site, 30 June 2025
Ruwaida Amer reports in +972 on 3 July 2025:
For over two decades, Al-Baqa Cafe was a cherished seaside refuge in western Gaza City, a place for family and friends to meet or those seeking a quiet space to rest or do some work. The cafe’s simple two-level wooden structure, with open balconies shaded by umbrellas, overlooked the Mediterranean Sea, and its owners kept prices low to remain affordable to the community.
Al-Baqa was one of the few businesses in Gaza that managed to stay open despite the war. It provided internet access to students continuing their studies, journalists filing reports, and freelancers trying to work amid frequent power blackouts and repeated displacement. As life across the Strip ground to a halt, people gathered at Al-Baqa on plastic chairs, sipping whatever drinks were still available under the blockade, and stealing brief moments of calm with colleagues and loved ones.
That all came to an end around noon on Monday, June 30, when the Israeli army dropped a 500-pound bomb on the cafe without any warning. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, the airstrike killed at least 33 people including the cafe’s owner, Saher Al-Baqa.
After the bombing, the Israeli army claimed it had “attacked a number of terrorists from the Hamas terrorist organization” and that “prior to the attack, many steps were taken to reduce the chance of harming civilians.” A week later, on July 7, the Israeli army and Shin Bet released another statement claiming, without further evidence, that the victims of the strike included the commander of Hamas’ naval forces in northern Gaza and two other “terrorists.”
Maher Al-Baqa, Saher’s brother and co-owner of the cafe, expressed sorrow and disbelief over the bombing. “The public’s grief shows that the cafe was simply a place for ordinary people — it had no other purpose, despite what the [Israeli army] claims,” he told +972 Magazine. “It was a place for recreation and comfort and a friend to everyone since the beginning of the war. I am still in deep shock that it was targeted.”
‘We mourn everything there, even the walls’
Ismail Abu Hatab, a 32-year-old photojournalist from Gaza City, was among those killed in the strike. A regular at the cafe for years, he often came to meet with friends and colleagues, trying to maintain a routine throughout the war.