Community Puzzled Over Lack Of Tunnels, Arms Storage Space In Plans For Rebuilt Gaza Mosque

“I know the Imam – he would never serve in a building without at least a hiding place to keep captive Jews.”

Jabalia, February 16 – Residents of this rubble-strewn area returning to it after months of fighting between Israel and Hamas voiced surprise and confusion today upon discovering that a blueprint to reconstruct their house of worship contains none of the familiar features of such a facility, such as underground passages for fighters, or places to keep weapons – not even anywhere to hold hostages.

Some of the last bouts of military confrontation between IDF soldiers and – primarily – guerrillas from Hamas in this northern Gaza Strip city before a ceasefire took effect last month resulted in widespread destruction of buildings and infrastructure, almost all of which contained or concealed some target of military value. Many of the buildings that did not have Hamas positions or stockpiles nevertheless were festooned with booby traps laid against Israeli troops attempting to take positions there. Residents finally allowed back into the erstwhile combat zone began to salvage their possessions, assess the damage, and make plans to rebuild – but found themselves in shock at the first drawings to show such rebuilding: the Sheikh Marwan Mosque, leveled in December when Hamas fighters blew it up in an attempt to kill IDF soldiers they thought were inside, will contain only prayer, classroom, office, toilet, and rudimentary kitchen facilities, without the tunnels, weapons-caching, and hostage-storing units that everyone had assumed were an integral element of a mosque.

“I don’t get it,” remarked Faisal Masri, 49. “Who drew up these plans? They must be incomplete.”

“Where’s the tunnel system access?” wondered Shuruq Fadi, 48. “Every mosque has that. Every building, in fact. This will never get past any official approvals.”

The puzzlement spread beyond those returning to the immediate vicinity of the mosque-to-be. “That can’t be,” stated Imam Aifuq Kamel, whose Anas Baqar Mosque, or what remains of it, lies about half a kilometer away. “I know the Imam of that mosque – well, he was killed in a bombing, with about seven fighters, so technically I ‘knew’ him – and he would never serve in a building without at least a hiding place to keep captive Jews. It’s basic. I find it hard to believe this is an actual building plan. It’s not credible.”

Officials from Hamas, which still governs the territory of the Gaza Strip, were unavailable for comment. A relative of one mid-level operative disclosed that final decisions and approvals on reconstruction might not be issued for months, if ever, in light of the prospect of renewed fighting, and the possibility that Trump might prompt large-scale departure of the area’s residents to greener, or at least less rubble-strewn, pastures.

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