Al-Zahra

{{pp-extended|small=yes}}

{{Infobox settlement

| name = Al-Zahra

| translit_lang1 = Arabic

| translit_lang1_type = Arabic

| translit_lang1_info = {{lang|ar|الزهراء}}

| translit_lang1_type1 = Latin

| translit_lang1_info1 = Madinat Az-Zahra' (official)
Ezahra (unofficial)

| type = Municipality type C

| image_skyline =

| image_caption =

| image_blank_emblem = AlZahra_Logo.jpg

| blank_emblem_type = Municipal Seal of Al-Zahra' Municipality

| pushpin_map = Palestine

| pushpin_map_caption = Location of Al-Zahra within Palestine

| image_map =

| map_caption =

| coordinates = {{coord|31|28|17.69|N|34|24|4.62|E|region:PS|display=inline,title}}

| grid_name = Palestine grid

| grid_position =

| subdivision_type = State

| subdivision_name = State of Palestine

| subdivision_type1 = Governorate

| subdivision_name1 = Gaza

| blank_name_sec1 = Etymology

| blank_info_sec1 = The Rose

| established_title = Founded

| established_date = 1998

| government_footnotes =

| government_type = Municipality

| leader_title = Control

| leader_name = {{flagicon|Hamas}} Hamas

| leader_title1 = Head of Municipality

| leader_name1 = Tareq Hijo

| unit_pref = dunam

| area_footnotes =

| area_total_km2 = 4.6

| area_total_dunam = 4634

| elevation_footnotes =

| elevation_m =

| elevation_min_m =

| elevation_max_m =

| population_footnotes = {{cite report |date=February 2018 |title=Preliminary Results of the Population, Housing and Establishments Census, 2017 |url=https://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Downloads/book2364-1.pdf |department=Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) |publisher=State of Palestine |pages=64–82 |access-date=2023-10-24}}

| population_total = 5338

| population_as_of = 2017

| population_note =

| population_density_km2 = auto

| website =

| footnotes =

}}

Al-Zahra ({{langx|ar|الزهراء}}) is a Palestinian municipality in the Gaza Governorate, south of Gaza and north of the Wadi Gaza, in the central Gaza Strip. The University of Palestine and Ummah Open University are located there. In 2017, it had a population of 5,338. There were 837 housing units and 237 other buildings in the town.[http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/census2007/ind_loca_09.pdf 2009 Census] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101114002607/http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/census2007/ind_loca_09.pdf |date=November 14, 2010 }}. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p. 61.

Yasser Arafat established Al-Zahra in the 1990s as a residential area for Palestine Authority staff and supporters. It remained a neighborhood with larger houses and more open space than others in Gaza City.{{cite news |author=Alice Cuddy |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/extra/85JPWipoYZ/gaza_al_zahra |title=The end of Gaza's most beautiful neighbourhood |work=BBC News |date=November 10, 2023 |access-date=November 10, 2023 }} In 1998, a Bronze Age archaeological site was discovered at Al-Zahra during work on a housing project. The site was subsequently named Tell es-Sakan and investigated by archaeologists.{{cite book |last1=de Miroschedji |first1=Pierre |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv310vqks.24 |title=Archaeological Perspectives on the Transmission and Transformation of Culture in the Eastern Mediterranean |last2=Sadeq |first2=Mo'ain |author-link2=Moain Sadeq |date=2005 |publisher=Council for British Research in the Levant |editor-last=Clarke |editor-first=Joanne |pages=155–169 |chapter=The frontier of Egypt in the Early Bronze Age: preliminary soundings at Tell es-Sakan (Gaza Strip) |jstor=j.ctv310vqks.24 |jstor-access=free}}

In the Gaza war, it was untouched by airstrikes until October 19, 2023, when more than twenty apartment blocks were bombed by the Israel Defense Forces.{{Cite news |title='I'm calling from Israeli intelligence. We have the order to bomb. You have two hours' |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67327079 |date=November 8, 2023 |access-date=November 9, 2023 }}{{Cite news |date=2023-10-21 |title=Gaza neighbourhood flattened and hospital told to evacuate |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67180844 |access-date=2024-02-12 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}

During the building of the netzarim corridor the city was captured by the israel defence forces