Omar al-Mukhtar How memories of a once-thriving Gaza street offer hope

Before it was bombed into a long grey line of rubble and dust cutting across Gaza City, Omar al-Mukhtar street was full of life - shoppers in the day, friends and families on evening outings after dark.

- Ana Lucía González Paz Kaamil Ahmed

Before it was bombed into a long grey line of rubble and dust cutting across Gaza City, Omar al-Mukhtar street was full of life - shoppers in the day, friends and families on evening outings after dark. Running from east to west through the city, this artery road is home to some of Gaza's most significant landmarks.

It connects the city's historical sites to the centre of modern commercial activity and leads down towards the port, which has for centuries been crucial to life in Gaza. Heavily damaged in Israel's ongoing assault in which 56,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the health ministry, the area around Omar al-Mukhtar is now crowded with people who have fled from parts of Gaza City that have been entirely flattened.

For the repeatedly displaced people of this city, the street is where many still return, trying to bring it back to life.

Capital Mall shopping centre The mall opened its doors in 2017. It had clothing, perfume, home goods and mobile phone shops, a bookshop and food court. For Gaza's middle-class youth, it was the place to hang out.

Yousef Eljojo, a 21-year-old architecture student, drew the mall from memory and posted it on Instagram earlier this year.

"I try to remember the buildings, the streets, the trees - I draw what I used to live. We were never just numbers. We are people who had dreams like you, hopes to fulfil. "Now, we are trying to rise again. I am studying architecture remotely, without resources like electricity or internet. I look at my papers with a burning heart, will they remain blank? Or will I colour them once again?"

The conditions in Gaza have worsened significantly since he made that drawing.