Palestinians hoping to return to Rafah in Gaza have found the city in ruins Israel-Palestine Conflicts News

Rafah, Gaza Strip, Palestine – Palestinian farmer Abd al-Sattari owned two houses in Gaza’s Rafah. It has been nine months since the Israeli army attacked this southern city, and he was forced to flee. The 53-year-old man always hoped that if one house was hit in another Israeli attack, which has already done more than 70 percent of the area, the other would remain standing to bring back his family during the war. it finally ended.

On Sunday, even before the agreement went into effect, Abd took his eldest son Mohammed and left their entire family in their tent in al-Mawasi, on the southwest coast of Gaza. They rushed to one place, then the next, only to be confronted with the painful truth: both of his houses – one in Shaboura and the other in Mirage – were in ruins. Abd’s hopes of returning to his position were dashed.

A long-awaited ceasefire went into effect on Sunday morning, bringing what Palestinians hope will be an end to a brutal war that has killed more than 46,900 people, destroyed much of the besieged area and displaced more than 2 million people. Even before the ceasefire began, hundreds of families were running back to Rafah, having fled after the Israeli attack, with their few belongings packed into cars, carts and bicycles.

Israeli forces continued to attack Gaza, killing dozens of Palestinians shortly before the ceasefire began. But that didn’t stop other families who went straight to their old places and set up tents in the ruins of their homes, eager to get through the darkest months of their lives.

As they walked through potholed roads through Rafah, some families chanted: “We will rebuild.” We will be fine.”

‘Rafah is gone’

But for many, joy turned to sorrow as they returned to the ruins.

While inspecting his first house, which is 200 square meters (2,000 sq ft), and his second two-storey house which is 160 square meters (1,700 sq ft), Abd found only destruction. A visit to the homes of his three brothers revealed similar damage. Without a roof to shelter his family, his dreams of ending their seven-month migration were dashed.

Sitting among the ruins, Abd called his wife, who was waiting at the al-Mawasi camp with the family’s belongings loaded into a truck. Over the phone, he broke the news: their homes were uninhabited, without walls, water or basic services. His wife cried bitterly, asking to come back despite the damage, but Abd insisted that it was impossible.

Their eldest son, Mohammed, picked up the phone to plead with his mother not to stay, assuring her that they would look into ways to prepare for a future return.

“The Rafah we used to know is gone,” lamented Abd. “The streets where we grew up, the places where we worked—now they are not recognized anymore.”

For Abd’s family of six, the day was meant to mark the end of the ordeal of displacement. Instead, they face the harsh reality of rebuilding without doing anything.

Abd thought of their dashed hopes. “We thought that we would finally escape from the tents and live inside the walls again. But now, it feels like a new kind of destruction – this time, not by bombs but simply by the absence of the essentials of life.”

Returning home in despair

In the days left before the end of the fighting, Palestinians in Gaza were looking at what they hoped would be the end of their misery – more than 1.8 million people died of severe hunger and hundreds of thousands lived in flimsy tents with no protection. the winter that killed children due to hypothermia.

Families like that of Nasim Abu Alwan, who brought back his nine children to find their home destroyed, decided to live among the ruins. “We will draw the water away if necessary,” said Nasim. “We are done with tents. We stay in Rafah, no matter what happens.”

According to United Nations figures, more than 60 percent of buildings and 65 percent of the roads that cross Gaza have been destroyed since October 7, 2023, when the war began.

“More than 42 million tons of waste have been created, where human remains and unexploded ordnance (UXO), asbestos and other hazardous materials have been buried,” said a report by the UN’s Humanitarian agency (OCHA).

Some residents of Rafah, such as Amjad Abdullah, have chosen to stay in Khan Younis, unwilling to endure living amid the rubble. “It is impossible to live here,” he said after finding his neighborhood inaccessible even by foot. “Rafah has become a graveyard of buildings. Without water, roads, or basic infrastructure, life here is unthinkable.”

According to Mohammed al-Sufi, the Mayor of Rafah, the level of destruction in Rafah is “shocking”.

“The city is empty,” he told Al Jazeera.

Al-Sufi said “70 percent of the areas and their infrastructure were destroyed”.

“Important areas such as the Philadelphia Corridor, which makes up 16 percent of the Rafah area, have not been cleared, while large areas east of Rafah are similarly inaccessible,” he added. The Philadelphia Corridor is a strip of land along the border between Gaza and Egypt.

Municipal workers are scrambling to clear roads, restore water and deal with the risk of unexploded ordnance. But the municipality warns against returning soon.

“We need a slow, careful approach. “Without basic needs, life will not continue,” said one of the workers.

Despite the damage, the residents of Rafah remain defiant. Families cling to their ties to the city, determined to restore what little remains. As one father put it, “We suffered a lot in exile. Rafah is home, and we will rebuild – even if it takes a lifetime. “

This piece was published in collaboration with Egab.