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The new three-storey restaurant, protruding 15
metres over the rocky shoreline, also features the tropical
juice drinks typical of the distant Indian ocean island after
which it is named.
Many of Gaza's 2 million Palestinians have never left the 360 sq
km (140 sq mile) enclave, which Israel and Egypt have largely
blockaded for years citing security concerns over its Islamist
rulers Hamas.
"The people of Gaza can't go to the Maldives, so we said to
ourselves: Why don't we bring the Maldives to them?" said Emad
Al-Bayya, co-owner of the cafe, which seats 1,200 and which he
hopes to expand.
It is one of several new seaside cafes bearing the names of
dream travel destinations, Marbella, Dubai and Sharm el-Sheikh
among them.
They offer a brief window onto a more exotic life to people "who
have been subject to wars, pressures and blockades", said Rola
Al-Agha, one of hundreds of patrons packed into "Maldive Gaza"
on a pleasantly breezy evening last week.
Gaza has had no COVID-19 cases among the general public, and
there are few curbs on social interactions.
(Editing by Rami Ayyub; editing by John Stonestreet)
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