Gaza's Phoenix Library Opens With Books Found in Rubble

When Omar Hamad fled his home in October 2023, he carried as many books as he could from his personal collection. Later, forced to evacuate a hospital under attack, he left those precious books behind with a simple note: "Whoever finds these books, please take care of them."

Those books survived. Today, they form the heart of the Phoenix Library, Gaza's first new public library, which opened its doors on April 21, 2025.

Hamad and his friend Ibrahim Massri built something remarkable from rubble. Together, they raised over $100,000 and collected 1,000 books from destroyed buildings across Gaza, combining them with donations from around the world.

For Hamad, books have always meant freedom. As a child, he learned that Israel monitored curriculum in Palestinian schools, so he saved his pocket money to buy books each month. He calls this "the first seed of rebellion."

Massri, a former teacher and translator who studied at Al-Aqsa University, sees the library as a return home. Through years of displacement and loss, he held onto one belief: that every destroyed home carries the seed of a new library.

The Phoenix Library isn't just a collection of books. It's a haven for Palestinian writers and poets, and a lifeline for children and students whose education stopped when conflict destroyed 90% of Gaza's schools and all of its universities.

The Ripple Effect

The library's impact reaches beyond its walls. In a place where Israel has destroyed at least 13 libraries, numerous archives, museums, and historical sites since October 2023, the Phoenix Library stands as proof that knowledge survives.

Every day, more books arrive from donors worldwide. Students who haven't seen a classroom in months now have a place to learn. Writers have space to create. Children can escape into stories.

"There are moments in history when the creation of a library becomes an act of freedom itself," Hamad and Massri wrote. They understood that dreams protected by books don't yield, and that knowledge has the strength to pull a city back from ruin.

The Phoenix Library proves that hope can be rebuilt, one book at a time.