'EVERYTHING IS GONE'

Gaza residents return home to find devastation and little hope

- Liam Stack, Abu Bakr Bashir and Bilal Shbair

A destroyed residential neighbourhood in Gaza City, after the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area on Oct 18 amid a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas militants. Since the ceasefire took effect, thousands of Palestinians have returned to Gaza City or other areas in the north of the Gaza Strip, only to find their homes and neighbourhoods obliterated by Israeli forces. PHOTO: REUTERS

(PHOTO: REUTERS)

Ms Sabah Abu Ghanem and her family made the long trek back to Gaza City after Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in October, leaving a crowded tent encampment in the south of the territory with the goal of finally going home.

When they arrived, they found that their neighbourhood had been destroyed, like most of Gaza City. But the cement skeleton of their home was still standing, so they decided to live in one of its damaged rooms.

"At least, this piece of land is ours," said Ms Abu Ghanem, 26. "This rubble I can call mine."

Since the ceasefire took effect, thousands of Palestinians have returned to Gaza City or other areas in the devastated north of the Gaza Strip. In many cases, they went back to places that they had fled just weeks earlier, and found their homes and neighbourhoods obliterated.

Rebuilding their lives in Gaza City feels at best like a faraway goal and, at worst, like an impossible one.

For some, the destruction was too much to face. Mr Majdi Nassar, 32, came back to look for his home in Jabalia, near Gaza City, but returned to Deir al-Balah, in the south, within less than 24 hours. He said he would stay away until clean drinking water had been restored. That could be a long time.

"I could not find any trace of the building where I had an apartment, not even the rubble," he said. "Everything is gone."