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| Before |
..."In a quiet corner of the cafe overlooking the sea, a Hamas operative, dressed in civilian clothing, arrived at his table, sources told the BBC. It was then, without warning, that a bomb was dropped by Israeli forces and tore through the building, witnesses told the press.
For decades, Al-Baqa Café sat on Gaza’s shoreline as more than a place to drink coffee. It was an open-air refuge where locals gathered for tea, sweet pastries, card games, and conversation with the sea just beyond the rail.
In a city gripped by scarcity and uncertainty, it served as an oasis, a coffee house—one of the few public spaces where ordinary life could still be savored.
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| Al-Baqa Cafe in ruins Summer, 2025 |
That ended on June 30, 2025, when a 500-pound Mark 82 bomb turned the café into splinters, smoke, and a crater in the sand. At least 41 people were killed, dozens more injured. Artists, students, journalists, families—gone in an instant.
The blast erased not just a building, but the fragile normalcy it sheltered.
Coffee houses the world over are meant to be safe havens, places where the air hums with espresso steam and quiet chatter.
In Gaza, even that simple promise is vulnerable. Al-Baqa’s ruins now stand as a stark reminder: in war, no cup is safe from the shrapnel, and no sanctuary is within reach.
Across the Border on October 7, 2023.
An Israeli civilian compound was leveled by Hamas. The attack launched a bitter war that is still on going.
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