When battles in Gaza stop, many fear it will remain uninhabitable
- Brutal war between Israel and Hamas since October 7 has reduced much of Gaza to rubble
- Israel’s goal is to destroy Hamas’ military and government, secure the Palestinian enclave
Israel’s military offensive has turned much of northern Gaza into an uninhabitable moonscape. Whole neighbourhoods have been erased.
Homes, schools and hospitals have been blasted by air strikes and scorched by tank fire. Some buildings are still standing, but most are battered shells.
Nearly 1 million Palestinians have fled the north, including its urban centre, Gaza City, as ground combat intensified. When the war ends, any relief will quickly be overshadowed by dread as displaced families come to terms with the scale of the calamity and what it means for their future.
Where would they live? Who would eventually run Gaza and pick up the pieces?
“I want to go home even if I have to sleep on the rubble of my house,” said Yousef Hammash, an aid worker with the Norwegian Refugee Council who fled the ruins of the urban refugee camp of Jabaliya for southern Gaza. “But I don’t see a future for my children here.”
The Israeli army’s use of powerful explosives in tightly packed residential areas – which Israel describes as the unavoidable outcome of Hamas using civilian sites as cover for its operations – has killed over 14,000 Palestinians and led to staggering destruction. Hamas denies the claim and accuses Israel of recklessly bombing civilians.