Sabah Abu Ghanem and her family made the long trek back to Gaza City after Israel and Hamas agreed to a cease-fire this month, leaving a crowded tent encampment in the south of the territory with the goal of finally going home.
When they arrived, they found that their neighborhood had been destroyed, like most of Gaza City. But the cement skeleton of their home was still standing, so they decided to live in one of its damaged rooms.
“At least, this piece of land is ours,” said Ms. Abu Ghanem, 26. “This rubble I can call mine.”
Since the cease-fire took effect, thousands of Palestinians have returned to Gaza City or other areas in the devastated north of the territory. In many cases, they went back to places that they had fled just weeks earlier, and found their homes and neighborhoods obliterated. Rebuilding their lives in Gaza City feels at best like a faraway goal and at worst, like an impossible one.
For some, the destruction was too much to face. Majdi Nassar, 32, came back to look for his home in Jabaliya, near Gaza City, but returned to Deir al-Balah, in the south, within less than 24 hours. He said he would stay away until clean drinking water had been restored. That could be a long time.
“I could not find any trace of the building where I had an apartment, not even the rubble,” he said. “Everything is gone.”
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