After Celebrations, Displaced Gazans Return Home To Destruction

The residents have returned to the city of Rafah, even though it is no longer a city. Thousands of citizens are on their way back,

said Muhammad al-Shaer, a displaced resident

We came here at six in the morning to find massive, unprecedented destruction,

said Walid Abu Jiab, a displaced Gazan who returned to his home in Jabalia

We are starting today to reopen the main roads in Gaza City, preparing for the return of our displaced citizens

he wrote

This joy is more beautiful than the joy of Eid, and this is the most beautiful pleasure,

a man told AFP from the window of his car, which was packed with his family and all his belongings

There is nothing left in the north worth living for,

he told AFP

My joy is indescribable. We are finally in our home. There is no home left, just rubble, but it's our home. We are lucky because part of the roof is still intact

she told AFP

As soon as I returned to the city, I felt a shock ... Decomposing bodies, rubble, and destruction everywhere."

he told AFP, ... describing

We've been waiting for this moment for 16 months,

said the 43-year-old mother of three

Entire areas have been completely wiped out

he said

We will remain in a tent, but the difference is that the bleeding will stop, the fear will stop, and we will sleep reassured,

Abu Jarad said

As soon as they said that the truce would start on Sunday, we started packing our bags and deciding what we would take, not caring that we would still be living in tents,

Abu Jarad said

They’re returning to retrieve their loved ones under the rubble,

said Mohamed Mahdi, a displaced Palestinian and father of two

It’s an indescribable scene. It’s like you see a Hollywood horror movie,

said Mohamed Abu Taha, a Rafah resident, speaking to The Associated Press as he and his brother were inspecting his family home in the city’s Salam neighborhood

It’s no longer a hospital at all,

she said

You are talking about people whose past has been erased, and every horizon of the near future has been wiped away,

said Essam Raja, 38, who was forced to flee his home in northern Gaza

People everywhere, from the far south to the north, are clutching at the faint straw of hope as soon as they hear news of a truce,

she told The Independent

Right now, we live a life of misery in every sense of the word,

he told The Independent

And so the suffering isn’t just physical. Every single child in Gaza has been deeply psychologically scarred by the unrelenting nature of this conflict. Children have witnessed things that no child should ever witness,

she continued

Everything we have has faced massive destruction and damage,

he said

We need the operational environment inside Gaza to considerably improve, which is going to be challenging,

she said,