TEL AVIV — Burnt buildings reduced to rubble are the only place of home for thousands of displaced Palestinians who returned to northern Gaza on foot this week, more than a year after they were forced to flee by Israeli military attacks. It became.
“As you can see, everything has been destroyed. There’s nothing left,” Asma Quaud told an NBC News reporter Monday on the ground in what was left of Jabalia refugee camp.
“Everything was destroyed, our homes and our hearts,” said Quade, 32, sitting in front of a collapsed building surrounded by rubble.
She was one of thousands of displaced people returning to northern Gaza after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect on Sunday, halting a 15-month Israeli military offensive in the enclave. On the first day of the ceasefire, the first hostages held in Gaza by Hamas and Palestinians held by Israel were released.
According to the United Nations, about 90% of Gaza’s population, or about 1.9 million people, have been forced to flee their homes and live in tent camps and other temporary shelters. The United Nations previously estimated that about 60% of Gaza’s infrastructure, including schools and hospitals, had been destroyed.
Video shot by NBC News showed similar scenes across the enclave, with buildings covered in ash and streets lined with the shattered rubble of homes and businesses. Gaza Civil Defense announced in a Telegram post on Tuesday that 66 bodies were pulled from the rubble across Gaza on Monday.
Like many others, Quade lost more than just his home in the war.
“My brother was killed,” she told NBC News, explaining that she discovered his body when she returned to Jabalia refugee camp. Meanwhile, her husband remained in Israeli custody, trying to figure out where to sleep and what the next few days and weeks would hold.
More than 47,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, according to local health authorities, but researchers say the death toll is likely significantly higher, with thousands still missing. It is estimated that there is a possibility that it may be buried under rubble.
