[News] Despite the massive destruction, Gaza shakes off the dust of war and opens its arms to its returning people

[Anti-Imperialist News]

Reports <https://english.palinfo.com/category/reports/>


  Despite the massive destruction, Gaza shakes off the dust of war and
  opens its arms to its returning people

Saturday 11-October-2025

GAZA, (PIC)

Along Al-Rashid Street leading to Gaza City, hundreds of thousands of 
citizens stream back to their residential areas, once again shattering 
the Israeli occupation’s illusion of uprooting the population and 
imposing a new demographic reality.

Thousands of Palestinians, men, women, and children, left behind the 
tents that had sheltered them for long months and days, heading north 
toward homes that no longer exist.

Among the returning crowds walks a woman in her fifties holding her 
grandson’s hand, taking slow steps as she murmurs softly, “Maybe our 
house is gone, but at least we know where it stood. The Jews destroyed 
the whole neighborhood.”

A journey into the unknown

Families flow along the destroyed roads, some wearing small photos of 
relatives lost in the latest war hoping someone might recognize them, as 
the pain has lasted too long and the suffering deepened.

They walk in silence, though some quietly praise and thank God. Their 
silence is not weakness, but grief that words can no longer express.

In the middle of the crowd stands Salim Al-Habbash, a teacher from Beit 
Lahia, holding a small hand-drawn map he made for his child, showing 
where their house used to be before it vanished.

When Al-Habbash reached the site, he was stunned by the scale of 
destruction that had consumed his home and those of his neighbors. Yet 
he knelt down in gratitude, accepting with faith, saying, “We trust that 
God will not forsake us.”

A city that has changed its face

As the human caravans neared the outskirts of Gaza City, the city seemed 
to have lost its old form. Its main streets, Al-Wahda, Al-Nasr, and 
Al-Jalaa had turned into labyrinths of rubble.

Nadine Al-Masri, a university student who used to live in the Al-Rimal 
neighborhood, described the scene with tearful eyes, “There’s no sound 
but the wind. I used to hear street vendors, children shouting, 
neighbors laughing. Today, even the birds don’t come near this place.”

She stopped at a corner she knew well, scooped up a handful of dirt, 
saying it was from “our courtyard,” then smiled a sad smile.

Memories suspended in the air

A few kilometers away stands Abu Samer Daloul, a taxi driver who lost 
both his job and his home. Pointing to a pile of stones, he said, “This 
was my children’s room. Every morning I used to wake them up for school. 
Today, even the school is gone,” he added with deep sorrow.

He tried to lift some of the debris, searching for a notebook or a toy. 
Around him, children played as if in a park, unaware that the ground 
they ran on was once their homes.

After the war

Despite the indescribable devastation, the people of Gaza keep 
repeating, “Alhamdulillah,” and “We will rebuild it again.”

Ruba Shehab, a youth activist from Khan Yunis who came with a volunteer 
group to distribute water and food to returnees, said, “People aren’t 
coming back to houses they’re coming back to memories. But that, in 
itself, is a form of life. After two years of hell, this return is a 
small sign of hope.”

She added, “There’s exhaustion, there’s fear but there’s also heartbeat. 
People want to live, even if on ashes.”

A truce unlike peace

Dr. Khaled Al-Araj, a physician from Al-Shifa Medical Complex, affirmed 
that the truce hasn’t changed anything fundamental yet, “People are 
returning, but there are no services no electricity, no water, no ready 
hospitals. The truce is political, but the humanitarian situation hasn’t 
improved. We’re still treating patients under tents.”

Still, he believes that returning marks “the beginning of psychological 
healing. A person needs to see his home, even if it’s destroyed, to 
believe that he still exists,” he said.

As the sun set, calm descended over Gaza for the first time in two years 
except for a few Israeli violations here and there.

It was an eerie, unsettling calm that followed the storm of fire Israel 
had poured on the Strip for more than 730 days.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20251011/df037844/attachment.htm>