In an apocalyptic landscape left by more than 15 months of war, Gazans returned home, many to find nothing but ruins, on the first day of the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel. Having just returned to his home in Jabalia, the epicenter since October of a vast Israeli offensive which chased residents towards Gaza City, Walid Abou Jiab is collapsed. “There’s nothing left, it’s become unlivable.” Also shocked by “the immensity of the destruction”, Fouad Abou Jilboa nevertheless wants to turn the page: “Thanks to our determination, our faith and our strength, we will rebuild.”
Throughout the devastated and besieged territory, in the dust of the broken streets, the columns of displaced people are progressing, most of them on foot, in the middle of a gray ocean of rubble, collapsed concrete blocks and twisted scrap metal.
In Rafah, at the southern tip of Gaza, Mohammed al-Rabayaa says he found only “ruins” where his family’s homes used to be. But he prepares to pitch his tent there: “We will live here until our houses are rebuilt.” Other residents remain silent at the sight of entire neighborhoods devastated. In Gaza City, excavators are already starting to clear some of the rubble.
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