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LONDON: After the Gaza ceasefire came into effect on Oct. 10, thousands of Palestinians returned to their rubble-strewn neighborhoods, passing roads that reeked of death, expecting to find little more than debris where their homes once stood.

Those who found any walls still standing shared videos of themselves on social media attempting to clear the rubble and clean what remained, using whatever tools they could find.

Among them was content creator Hadeel Ahmed, who posted a video of her family surveying the ruins of their home.

The video showed a floor strewn with rubble and broken furniture, the walls blackened by smoke and stripped to their frames. Almost everything was either charred or buried under a thick layer of ash.

“A whole house with its furniture and belongings. From bedrooms, dining table, sofas, and two salons ... a complete home, this is what remains,” she wrote in the caption. “The kitchen was the least affected by the fire, but everything else is gone.”

She added: “The loss is great, and the memories are heavier than words can describe. While we laugh in the video, our hearts are full of sorrow for all that we’ve lost.”

Ahmed and her family were able to salvage remnants of their past — a few kitchen utensils, some pottery, and baking trays that survived the bombardment and resulting fire.

“These dishes are all we’ve managed to save, but the memories will stay with us forever,” she wrote.

A few miles away, another content creator, Sara Zaqout, found her family home in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City still standing — but on the brink of collapse.

In a video shared on Instagram, Zaqout visited the wrecked apartment with her father, explaining that even their brief visit was dangerous, as the ceiling could collapse at any moment.

The floor was buried under rubble and shattered furniture, yet faint traces of color and pattern hinted at the home’s former warmth.

“This was the home where I grew up, studied for exams, drank coffee from little pink cups, and laughed with my siblings,” Zaqout wrote in the caption. “For 20 years, this apartment held our life. Now the roof hangs open to the sky, ready to collapse.”

While the ceasefire offered a pause in fighting, Zaqout said it did not bring safety. Her family’s goal, she wrote, “is no longer just to survive — it’s to rebuild. To create a home with walls that hold, a roof that won’t fall, a space where my family can sleep, eat, and begin to heal.”

Many Gazans were even less fortunate. Where homes once stood, built over generations, only piles of rubble remained.

At least 90 percent of homes in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed since the Israeli offensive began in October 2023, leaving some 1.9 million Palestinians without a safe or permanent place to live, according to UN figures.

The war in Gaza was triggered by the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, which saw 1,200 killed and 250 taken hostage. The resulting Israeli assault has killed at least 67,000, according to local health officials.

A classified Israeli military database reviewed by The Guardian, +972 Magazine, and Local Call indicated that the vast majority of those killed were civilians.

A US-brokered ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10, halting major Israeli operations and freezing battle lines, though Israeli forces retain control of more than half of Gaza.

Under the deal, Hamas agreed to return 20 living hostages and the remains of 28 deceased, while Israel committed to releasing 250 Palestinian prisoners and the bodies of detainees who died in custody.

The agreement also allowed large humanitarian convoys into Gaza and the limited return of displaced residents.

But the ceasefire has not held consistently. Frequent Israeli airstrikes and shelling in southern and central Gaza have continued. On Oct. 28, at least 104 Palestinians were killed in one such strike, the BBC reported.

The Israeli military said it hit “dozens of terror targets and terrorists” in response to Hamas ceasefire violations. Israel’s defense minister accused Hamas of killing an Israeli soldier and breaching the deal’s terms on returning hostages’ bodies.

Hamas denied involvement in the attack, saying Israel was seeking to undermine the truce.

Since October 2023, Israel’s campaign has destroyed much of Gaza’s infrastructure, including hospitals and residential towers. The UN says nine out of 10 homes have been damaged or destroyed.

Many Palestinians now grieve not just for lost loved ones but for the homes where they had built their lives and memories.

Chef Samah Haboub shared an Instagram reel contrasting her home before the war and after the ceasefire. Once filled with elegant furniture and warm decor, her apartment now lies in ruins.

The footage cuts between scenes of comfort and destruction. Haboub, through tears, lifts a cuddly toy from the rubble, a poignant symbol of everything lost.

Yet even amid the devastation, Haboub expressed resilience. “I will rebuild again, even from the ashes,” she wrote in the caption.

Similarly, content creator Moayad Harazen recalled how his family’s home in Gaza City’s Shuja’iyya neighborhood once stood “modern, well-built, newly constructed — about 10 years old — and well-preserved.”

“The building itself was modern — and I’m not just saying that because it was ours,” Harazen told Arab News. “Most homes in Gaza were like that. Almost every item was valuable, had meaning and a story.”

During a previous ceasefire in January, Harazen and his family cleared debris and stayed briefly in their home, even though structural damage made it dangerous.

“That visit changed everything for me,” he said. “It had been a year and a half — imagine being away from a place you love that long, and finally returning. We were excited, really eager to see our home.”

But their excitement faded once they saw the devastation. “Our whole neighborhood — everything around us — was gone, flattened. Around 70 percent of the area was destroyed.

“Our house, by some miracle — maybe because it was tucked in a bit — was still standing. We went in, cleaned it, and tried to fix it. There were so many shell holes, walls blown open, everything exposed and broken.

“Still, we tried to clean it and make it livable. We managed to clean the house and stay there for about two months.”

When fighting resumed, they fled again.

“Our neighborhood is close to the border (with Israel), so when the new offensive began, we were hit first,” he said, referring to renewed fighting that broke out on March 17.

He evacuated to his uncle’s house in Al-Nasr, western Gaza, before Israeli forces ordered civilians to move south.

By the time the latest truce took effect, Harazen said the entire neighborhood had been “wiped out.”

“While we were still at my uncle’s house, I could still visit my home sometimes — it was still standing,” he said. But before the October ceasefire was announced, “the Israelis erased the entire area.”

“Every single one of the 30 houses left in my neighborhood was flattened,” he said. “I went there and saw it myself. I was shocked. It was pure cruelty. This isn’t war — it’s revenge.”

Others, like Mariam, a water, sanitation and hygiene expert from Khan Younis, found nothing at all to return to — not even during previous truces.

“We didn’t find any homes to go back to,” she told Arab News.

“I did go back during the November 2023 truce, but my family’s house was completely destroyed. I only managed to collect a few belongings from there. I didn’t find much, not even clothes. Just a few items.

“We couldn’t even live there for half a day — it was unlivable.”

Her siblings’ homes were gone as well. “My sister’s house was completely destroyed, beyond repair, and my brother’s house too,” Mariam said.

“Ever since we were displaced from Khan Younis to the central area, we haven’t gone back. Most of the houses there were destroyed … If anyone still has a house, it’s in the central area — some are in Khan Younis or Gaza City.

“But none of my family went back to their homes; they’re all displaced in the central area, in Deir Al-Balah and around there.

“That experience of returning and cleaning the house, we didn’t live through that, because there was never a chance to. Even during the truce, my family wasn’t in Khan Younis at all.”

Harazen believes outsiders misunderstood Gaza before the war. “People think we were poor, that we always needed help,” he said. “But before the war, we were proud and dignified. Everyone had a home. You rarely saw anyone living in a tent.”

Despite years of blockade and economic isolation, Gaza had a vibrant social life — bustling markets, family-friendly neighborhoods, historic landmarks, and beaches where families gathered to fish, relax, and socialize.

“Gaza was full of hotels, restaurants, cafes, and tourist places,” said Harazen. “The biggest proof are videos by content creators from before the war.”

Sixteen years under Israeli blockade and movement restrictions cost Gaza nearly $36 billion in lost gross domestic product between 2007 and 2023, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development.

Harazen sees little room for hope. “The future in Gaza feels very uncertain,” he said. “I sit here wondering if I’ll keep living in the south, in a tent, or if I’ll ever be able to return north.

“So many thoughts spin in my head. What should I do? Will things ever get better? Will there be reconstruction? Will life improve? I don’t know.”

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