Residents’ return to Gaza reveals earthquake-like destruction, scale of unprecedented humanitarian disaster

For two days, displaced people in the Gaza Strip have continued to return to their destroyed homes following the ceasefire agreement, only to discover the extent of the humanitarian disaster caused by the two-year-old Israeli aggression.

In the Yarmouk and al-Nafaq neighborhoods in northern Gaza, the scene looked as if an earthquake had struck the area. Rubbish covered most of the streets, and buildings were reduced to rubble.

Standing in front of the rubble of his home, Shaaban Islim, a young man, told Palestine Online on Sunday: “The extent of the destruction is catastrophic and indescribable… It’s as if an earthquake struck the area and left no home standing.”

Rami Abdullah, who returned to the neighborhood where he was born, noted that the houses were razed to the ground and the streets were torn apart. He added: “The enemy army deliberately destroyed everything, and life here has become almost impossible.”

In another scene, Abu Iyad stands on the rubble of his four-story home, saying, “I don’t recognize the street I lived on for more than forty years. My house has become a pile of stones.”

Nearby, Umm Ahmed sits, gathering the remains of her shattered furniture and saying, “I dreamed of returning and finding my house as I left it, but instead I found it in rubble. This destruction is like an earthquake, and we won’t be able to rebuild for many years.”

Amidst the rubble, the tragedy of Gazans unfolds as they try to reclaim what remains of their lives, in a scene that encapsulates the humanitarian catastrophe left behind by the war.