On Monday, June 30, the Al-Baqa café, located on the seafront in Gaza City, was blown to pieces. An Israeli airstrike, carried out without warning, turned this popular gathering spot for young Gazans into a field of ruins. Journalists, artists and students were regulars there, as the place, made of sheet metal and wood, had a reliable internet connection, which had become rare in the enclave devastated by 20 months of intensive strikes. Al-Baqa was a gathering place, a respite offering a semblance of normalcy in a devastated daily life.

The attack killed at least 24 people and wounded dozens more, many in critical condition, according to Al-Shifa Hospital, which was overwhelmed by the influx of victims. In total, 105 people were killed on Monday in the enclave. "What happened [at the café] was a real massacre of civilians. Bodies were thrown into the sea. The hospital is packed to bursting. Some of the wounded died after arriving because we did not have beds for them," said Muhammad Abu Salmiya, director of Al-Shifa, reached by phone – Israeli authorities have barred international media from entering the Palestinian enclave since October 2023. The facility is now operating at only 10% of its original capacity, suffering from massive destruction, medicine and anesthetic shortages and only three overloaded operating rooms.

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