GAZA, (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian Muhammad Abu Hasira is busy, for hours a day, renovating his small restaurant, west of Gaza City, after it was destroyed during the latest round of military tension between Islamic Jihad and Israel.

Abu Hasira Restaurant specializes in cooking and serving different types of seafood dishes with distinctive hot flavors and taste inherited from his family, which has been famous for decades in the fishing profession and fish trade.

Muhammad Abu Hasira Restaurant, nicknamed "Babu Ali", is frequented by all classes of society, even the wealthy residents of the coastal sector, which is inhabited by more than two million people, in addition to a number of visiting foreign delegations, as it enjoys a reputation and professionalism in serving fish meals.

The summer season represents an opportunity for good income for Abu Hasira, as commercial activity is active in it, and visitors to his restaurant at such times increase to eat fresh fish.

Abu Hasira, a father of two, told Xinhua that the destruction of his restaurant caused him a heavy loss, whether the cost of reconstruction or the loss of this period of the year.

He added, "In the summer, the restaurant does not stop receiving customers who eat fresh fish meals."

He continued while observing a number of workers whom he brought to restore and rebuild his restaurant, that the recent escalation in Gaza caused great damage to the restaurant and paralyzed the area completely, which means losing my only source of income.

On the sixth of August, Israeli warplanes launched an attack on a house adjacent to Abu Hasira Restaurant, claiming that one of its residents belonged to the Islamic Jihad movement.

Abu Hasira says, "The bombing caused great damage to the shops, factories and homes in the entire neighborhood, including my restaurant."

He added, "After days of bombing, I became very confused, either waiting for financial compensation from the competent authorities, which also requires another wait for the approval of donor countries to help and thus closing my only door of livelihood, or bearing the losses that I suffered and restoring what was destroyed and not missing this season and keeping the door open." My livelihood is open non-stop, so I chose the latter.”

"I borrowed a sum of money from my relatives and friends, and rushed to restore the restaurant to restore life again, waiting for compensation," he added.

Abu Hasira points out, "The delay in restoring the restaurant, whose area is estimated at 200 square meters, and its remaining closed for a long time will increase material losses and the reluctance of customers, in addition to depriving its workers of their source of livelihood and joining the army of unemployment and the lists of the poor."

The Israeli blockade imposed on Gaza since 2007 and the instability of the political and security situation in the region caused a decline in the economic and commercial situation in the Gaza Strip .

Abu Hasira expresses his hope "to reach a peace agreement with Israel one day, and to live in the Gaza Strip safely without fear of the future or even fear of losing our loved ones, neighbors and family, then life will be easier and more beautiful."

The Israeli army launched dozens of air strikes on military sites and residential buildings allegedly belonging to the Islamic Jihad movement and its activists, killing at least 49 Palestinians, including 16 children and four women.

The Israeli army said that the pre-emptive attacks came to prevent offensive plans that the movement was preparing to implement against Israel.

The two sides reached an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire agreement to end the round of tension, which is the most severe since May 2021, when violent military fighting broke out between armed Palestinian factions and Israel that lasted for 11 days, leaving more than 255 Palestinians dead and 13 dead in Israel.

Abu Hasira says, "We are tired of repeating wars, destruction and blood. Our lives have become difficult and we have endured all circumstances, and no one in the world is looking at us. It is time for the world to intervene to prevent the situation from collapsing again."

In an area not far from Abu Hasira, the 69-year-old Palestinian Hassan Shamalakh does not seem to be lucky, as he is forced to wait for the start of the process of rebuilding his house, which was severely damaged due to the Israeli air strikes targeting a nearby house.

"My family and I, consisting of ten people, have become homeless without warning, and we will not be able to restore our normal life as it was," Shamlakh told Xinhua. "What is the fault of my family and I for being homeless, because I do not belong to any organization or faction?"

And he continued, while sitting next to a small hill from his destroyed house, "I feel heartbreak and sadness after I used to receive people and guests in my house. I began to beg for accommodation and shelter. It is a very difficult feeling."

Days after the shooting stopped, Shamalakh still went with his family every morning to dig through the rubble and destruction in search of his house's belongings.

He says that he is not able to rebuild his house, especially since he does not work and his children cannot provide the necessary money for that, expressing his fear of the delay in the reconstruction process, which will increase his ordeal and the tragedy of his family.

According to the Ministry of Public Works and Housing in Gaza, the recent Israeli escalation in the Strip completely destroyed 22 housing units and 77 partially, rendering them uninhabitable, while 1,908 units were damaged but are still habitable. /ts/