
‘Nothing is left, only rubble all around’
Last Updated on January 21, 2025 5:52 am
Thousands of displaced Palestinians from different parts of Gaza have started returning to their homes after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect. But the homes of Gazans have been completely razed to the ground by the Israeli forces. Where only rubble is everywhere.
Rana Mohsen, 43, fled Gaza City and took refuge in Jabalia. Like thousands of Palestinians, she was also waiting for the day of the ceasefire. She returned to her home in Rafah after the ceasefire took effect.
“We have been waiting for this moment for 16 months,” Mohsen, a mother of three, told AFP.
“My joy cannot be expressed in words. Finally, we have reached our home. Nothing is left of our home, only rubble all around, but I will still say that this is our home.”
She added that Israeli forces had destroyed the entire house, adding that “only the roof of the house remains. The extent of the destruction is “unimaginable.” The signs of the buildings have been completely destroyed, as if it were a ghost town or an abandoned city.
Ahmed al-Balawi, who returned to his home in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, described the same scene as Rana Mohsen.
“I was shocked when I returned to the city. Rotting bodies, just rubble everywhere. The whole area has been completely wiped out,” Ahmed told AFP.
The Gaza Health Ministry has ordered Palestinians returning home after the ceasefire to stay away from dead bodies. It has also called on authorities to quickly remove the bodies.
After several incidents, the long-awaited Gaza ceasefire between the Palestinian independence movement Hamas and Israel came into effect on Sunday (January 19). Hamas released three Israeli female hostages on the first day under the ceasefire agreement. Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners in exchange.