Two years of relentless bombardment have turned Gaza into a wasteland where over 1.5 million people are now homeless, and nearly every street bears the weight of destruction. Mountains of rubble, estimated at 60 million tons, now bury entire neighbourhoods, making Gaza one of the most devastated places on earth.

Despite the devastation, thousands of displaced families have begun returning to the ruins of their homes in northern Gaza and Gaza City. Many come back not to rebuild but to stand where their houses once stood, searching for remnants of their lives among the debris. With 80% of the enclave’s housing destroyed, what was once home has become a landscape of broken walls and dust.

Humanitarian workers warn that the situation remains critical. Reconstruction cannot begin while uncertainty looms over the fragile ceasefire and while aid is still restricted. Access to food, clean water, and medical care remains scarce, and tens of thousands of injured and ill Palestinians await evacuation or treatment that no longer exists in Gaza’s shattered hospitals.

Efforts to coordinate reconstruction through Egypt and regional partners offer a flicker of hope, but it is faint against the enormity of loss. Gaza’s people face not only the ruins of their cities but the slow, grinding struggle to reclaim dignity and survival amid a genocide that has left them with little but resilience and memory.