Displaced Palestinians return to the ruins of homes, driven by loss, defiance and the will to rebuild.
The bodies of 135 Palestinians have been pulled from beneath the rubble across the Gaza Strip, as Israel’s ceasefire-mandated halt in its two-year genocidal war allowed rescue workers to reach devastated areas.
Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that at least 135 bodies were recovered on Saturday.
Dozens more were retrieved from several hospitals across Gaza, including 43 bodies taken to al-Shifa Hospital and 60 to al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, with others arriving at hospitals in Nuseirat, Deir el-Balah and Khan Younis.
Separately, medical officials said another 19 people were killed in Israeli air strikes on Friday, while one person succumbed to earlier injuries. Sixteen members of the Ghaboun family were killed when their home, south of Gaza City, was bombed in the early hours. Another Palestinian was killed in Sheikh Radwan, while two more died in strikes near Khan Younis.
It remains unclear whether any of the attacks occurred after the truce took effect at noon local time (09:00 GMT).
The return to ruins
As Israeli forces withdrew from parts of the decimated enclave and the coastal al-Rashid Street reopened, tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians began the long and painful journey back to the ruins of their homes.
media’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Nuseirat, described scenes of “children, women, elderly, cars, vans, donkey carts loaded with furniture” heading towards Gaza City. “Families removed their makeshift tents to take and reset them over the ruins of their destroyed homes,” he said.
“This return is seen as historic but it needs to be accompanied by concrete steps to alleviate the humanitarian crisis,” Abu Azzoum added.
Almost nothing remains of Gaza City after months of relentless Israeli bombardment. The destruction is total: no functioning infrastructure, no clean water, no electricity – just the skeletal remains of what once were homes.
“There is now an urgent need for makeshift tents and mobile shelters for returning families,” said media’s Moath Kahlout from Deir el-Balah. “Carrying what little they have, they march toward the unknown.”
‘Remarkable resilience’, holding on to hope
Despite unimaginable loss, Palestinians are determined to return.
Naim Irheem, packing his makeshift tent into his car, told media: “I’m going to Gaza City even though there are no conditions for life there – no infrastructure, no fresh water. Everything is extremely difficult, truly difficult, but we must go back.
“My son was killed, all my daughters were wounded. Still, I want to return. We’ll pitch a tent and live in it, however it can be done,” he said.
For many, returning to Gaza City means facing nothing but ashes. Yet Kahlout noted, “For generations, Palestinians have shown remarkable resilience under Israeli occupation. Each step back is not just a return, but an act of defiance and hope.”
Aisha Shamakh, another survivor of Israel’s genocidal war, said: “We want to go see our homes, our homes that were destroyed at the start of the war. Floors have fallen on our children, but I can’t even describe to you the joy [of the ceasefire].”
Life amid loss
In Gaza City, media’s Ibrahim al-Khalil reported “exhausted faces filled with both grief and joy” as people returned. “Many told me they don’t know if their homes are still standing or reduced to rubble, yet they return clinging to hope,” he said.
Ahmed Abu Shanab, who made the difficult journey north, told media: “We suffered a lot. We didn’t have enough space and we literally could not sleep.”
Another resident, Maryam Abu Jabal, voiced the fear many shared: “We returned to the unknown, and we don’t know if our homes still exist. We hope to God that our home is still standing.”
Mohammed Sharaf, returning to the obliterated Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, said: “Everything has changed. We have returned to a disaster we cannot comprehend. We thought we would leave for a few days, now we’re back and we have found nothing.”
Even amid the death, mourning and destruction, the will to return remains a potent reminder of a people refusing to be erased or expelled from their land by Israel.
