Palestinians ‘live on a miracle’ in Gaza despite ceasefire

One week ago, 22-year-old Mohammed returned to his home in northern Gaza for the first time since the start of the 15-month war between Israel and Hamas.

He and his family were among the over half a million Palestinians who made the long journey north along the Netzarim corridor, which Israel recently reopened as part of a ceasefire deal with Hamas.

Like many others, Mohammed made the journey on foot, together with his mother, sister and her four children, aged two to seven. They walked over five hours from Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, some 20 kilometres away.

“When we wanted to move, we left at around 7 in the morning,” Mohammed told Euronews. “The road ahead of us was extremely difficult. There was no water or food on the route.”

But when they returned to the home that took Mohammed’s family almost his whole life to obtain, they found it destroyed. “I left it for approximately one-and-a-half years, and returned to find it in ruins, it was very difficult, a horrible feeling.” 

More than a year of displacement

For 15 months, Mohammed’s family had been living in makeshift tents, displaced four times, he says. The first time came just days after Hamas’ 7 October attack on Israel.

“On the first day, on 7 October, we were woken up at 6 in the morning by the sound of missile strikes, a huge amount. We did not know what was happening,” Mohammed explained. “We waited until 9 in the morning until we understood that there was a huge offensive, after Hamas entered Israeli lands, and (Israel) launched a full-scale war on the Gaza strip.”

Amid intense Israeli bombardment, Mohammed and his family first fled to Deir Al-Balah, then Khan Younis, and eventually Rafah, before ending up back in Deir Al-Balah, where they remained for almost a year.

Life in tents provided little protection from the cold and rain. Mohammed explained that returning home meant they would at least have a roof over their head. But now, they fear it may collapse on them at any moment.

“The house that I am in is half here, half gone. At any given moment, God forbid, it could collapse,” he said. We are living on a miracle and risking everything, risking myself, my family, my sister’s children, just to shelter ourselves from the hardships of winter.”

Even though staying in a tent would be safer, Mohammed says he has no other option. “When I am in a tent, my life is guaranteed, there is no risk of a roof suddenly collapsing on top of me,” he says, adding that “if I could find another house to stay in, I would, but it’s not possible.”

Rebuilding Gaza could take 350 years, UN says

Israeli bombardment and ground operations have transformed entire neighbourhoods into wastelands. The north, Mohammed’s home, is the most heavily destroyed part of Gaza.

This has made it incredibly difficult for much-needed humanitarian aid to reach the population there, even since the start of the ceasefire.

On Wednesday, the United Nations said humanitarian organisations are “expanding their operational presence and services in areas that were previously hard or impossible to access,” including the North.

Over the past two weeks, the World Food Programme (WFP) delivered more than 10 million metric tonnes of food to the Strip, reaching roughly 1 million people through food parcel distributions to households, it said.

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But for Mohammed, basic needs like food, water and health care have become more difficult to access since the ceasefire. He says that while he had to travel far to receive aid while displaced, it now takes him even longer to obtain water or reach the nearest hospital.

“It is very, very difficult,” he said. “My house is about a half-hour away from where we can get water. I have to carry all the bottles with me, and then walk back for another half-hour. It became more difficult than before, to a large degree.” 

Although humanitarian organisations have increased their presence in the north, the complete absence of infrastructure means some areas remain impossible to reach, leaving thousands of people like Mohammed without access to essential items.

The UN said that out of 25 emergency medical teams in the Gaza Strip, only one operates in the north. It added that while 565,092 people travelled north amid the ceasefire, more than 45,678 have been heading southwards due to the lack of services and the widespread destruction of homes and communities.

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Using satellite data, the UN estimated last month that 69% of the structures in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, including over 245,000 homes. The World Bank estimated $18.5 billion in damage — nearly the combined economic output of the West Bank and Gaza in 2022 — from just the first four months of the war.

It says that it could take more than 350 years to rebuild if the Israeli blockade, imposed in 2007 when Hamas took power, remains.

And it’s unclear when — or even if — much will be rebuilt. That’s mainly come into question as US President Donald Trump suggested that displaced Palestinians in Gaza be permanently resettled outside the war-torn territory, while the US should take “ownership” of the enclave.

Human rights organisations like Human Rights Watch have warned that such a plan would amount to ethnic cleansing.

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Even if Palestinians are not expelled from Gaza en masse, many fear that they will never be able to return to their homes or that the destruction wreaked on the territory will make it impossible to live there.

After Trump’s statement, US officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have said he only sought to move the roughly 1.8 million Gazans temporarily to allow for reconstruction.

But many Palestinians have already said they will not leave their homes, including Mohammed. “From our side, as Palestinians, this premise is completely rejected,” he said.

“We spent a year-and-a-half under war, we will not accept the idea of leaving,” Mohammed added. “Those who leave their own countries suffer unspeakably. We will not leave or flee our country.”

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