Bittersweet homecoming for Palestinians returning to Gaza City

After 15 months of Israeli bombardment, displaced people are returning home, only to find their cities in ruins. Displaced Palestinians are arriving in Gaza City via Rashid Street. Israel is allowing them passage under a ceasefire agreement, enabling their return to northern Gaza.

This week, Israel allowed hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to begin returning to their homes in the north. Although the crowds thinned by Tuesday, thousands of men, women, and children were still on their way back, fully aware that only rubble awaited them. After returning to northern Gaza, Saif al-Din Khazat could only sleep in a tent beside the ruins of his house. He stated, "I am happy to be back in my home." He added that he kept a fire going nearby all night to keep his children warm, and although they slept soundly despite the cold, they lacked sufficient blankets.

Mona Abu Atla managed to travel from central Gaza to Gaza City, but she has yet to assess the full impact of the war on her home. Her hometown, Beit Hanoun, was one of the areas hardest hit by Israeli military operations, which continued until the ceasefire this month. She stated, "We returned to Gaza City with nothing, and there is no drinking water. Most streets are still blocked by the rubble of destroyed houses." Despite the devastation, Abu Atla expressed her relief at being reunited with her family.

The United Nations stated on Tuesday that over 375,000 Palestinians have entered northern Gaza since Israel opened return routes on Monday morning. This is equivalent to more than a third of the one million people who fled the north at the start of the war in late 2023. The focus now is on increasing the supply of basic necessities to the people. While the delivery of aid has increased since the ceasefire, the need remains immense. The World Food Programme stated that it distributed more food in the first four days of the ceasefire than in the entire month of December. However, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stated that those returning to the north also need other basic supplies, such as drinking water, shelter equipment, and hygiene products.

Many Palestinians have expressed that they are happy to return, even if their homes may be damaged or destroyed. Many of those returning to Gaza City walked more than 20 kilometers (12 miles) along the coastal road. Gaza City is no longer the bustling urban center it was before the war, with large areas of buildings destroyed by Israeli bombing, leaving rubble and concrete everywhere. Palestinians walked along Salah al-Din Street in Nuseirat on their way to northern Gaza. Destroyed buildings are visible everywhere in Gaza City.