Hundreds of Palestinians returned to their devastated homes in Rafah, Gaza, after the ceasefire with Israel. Many were left in despair as they faced the reality of the destruction. Homes, streets, and infrastructure were reduced to rubble, leaving families with little hope for the future.
Hundreds of Palestinians made their way to the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Tuesday, after the Israel-Hamas ceasefire took effect two days earlier, to see what remains of their homes — if anything. While some were able to dig up miscellaneous items deep under the rubble, many were left feeling hopeless after dreaming about the possibility of returning to their homes and potentially repairing or rebuilding them.
Adel Labad, an engineer, was among other displaced Palestinians on Tuesday, looking at what remains of his Rafah home. 'Where are the houses? Where are the streets? Where the trees? Where are the animals? Where the people we love?' Labad told CBC News on Tuesday. 'Rafah is very sad. I can't imagine how we could reconstruct it.' 61-year-old Labad said hope is dissipating for him and many others as they absorb the extent of the damage and the decades it could take to rebuild their homes and cities. He couldn't find any remnants of his home. Meanwhile, Khadra and Hazem Abu Rizq sifted through the rubble with their young son, trying to find anything that may remain of their home. They, like a majority of Palestinians, were displaced multiple times in the 15-month-long war. WATCH | Displaced Palestinians return to inspect homes in Rafah: More Palestinians are returning to where they lived in the Gaza Strip before they were displaced in the 15-month-long war, after a ceasefire took effect Sunday. Some on Tuesday were shocked to see what little remains of their homes that once stood in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Unaware of the state of their home, 34-year-old Khadra hoped they would find a room intact or any item left behind. 'Our hearts were shattered a long time ago.' Khadra and her husband dug up three of their relatives in southern Gaza on Monday and buried them after they had gone missing and were presumed dead four months ago. Drone footage of Rafah shows much of the city has been flattened during the longest and deadliest war between Israel and Hamas, with mounds of rubble stretching as far as the eye can see. 'There is nothing,' he said, drinking coffee on a brown armchair perched on the rubble of his three-story home — a surreal scene. A young boy holds up some colouring paper he found amid the rubble in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Tuesday. (Mohamed El Saife/CBC) On the Gaza side in May 2024. Many Palestinians who were forced to flee Rafah had dreamed about being able to return one day — but only after Israeli bombings stop. Critics say Israel has waged a scorched earth campaign to destroy the fabric of life in Gaza, accusations that are being made, including the crime of genocide. Israel denies those charges and says its military has been fighting a complex battle in dense urban areas and that it tries to avoid causing undue harm to civilians and their infrastructure. An aerial photograph taken by a drone on Tuesday shows Palestinians walking through the destruction in Rafah caused by the Israeli air and ground offensive. (Mohammad Abu Samra/AP) From a fierce air campaign during the first weeks of the war to a ground invasion that sent in thousands of troops in tanks, the Israeli response to the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, has ground down much of the civilian infrastructure of the Gaza Strip, displacing 90 per cent of its population. The brilliant colour of pre-war life has faded into a monotone cement grey that dominates the territory. Hussein Barakat and two others sit amid the rubble of his destroyed home in Rafah on Monday. (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP) A United Nations assessment from satellite imagery showed more than 60,000 structures across Gaza had been destroyed and more than 20,000 severely damaged as of Dec. 1, 2024. The preliminary assessment of conflict-generated debris, including of buildings and roads, was more than 50 million tonnes. It noted the analysis had not yet been validated in the field. Israel's military campaign has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to its health ministry. The ministry says women and children make up more than half of the fatalities, but does not say how many of the dead were fighters. Israel says it killed more than 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
Gaza Rafah Israel-Hamas War Ceasefire Destruction Palestinian Homes Reconstruction Displacement
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