DayofPal—Following the recent withdrawal of Israeli forces from key areas of Gaza under the initial phase of the Trump-backed ceasefire deal, thousands of displaced Palestinians are making their way back to what’s left of their neighborhoods in northern Gaza, Gaza City, and Khan Younis.
But as families return, a single, painful question echoes everywhere: “Is your home still standing?”
It’s not the first concern about safety, food, or shelter, it’s the question that now defines the emotional aftermath of months of war and displacement.
Across Gaza, neighborhoods lie in ruin. Streets are unrecognizable. Infrastructure has been leveled. Hospitals, schools, and mosques show the scars of relentless bombardment. Homes are not just damaged, they are erased.
Ahmed Serdah wrote on Facebook: ” The true end of war is when you return and find your home still standing! But if you find it destroyed, a new war begins within you.”
“My house is gone,” said Mahmoud Al-Jabari, standing atop the ruins of what used to be his family’s home in northern Gaza. “All I found was my mother’s teacups in the rubble. That’s all that’s left of our life here.”
“I walked for hours just to reach Sheikh Redwan, where my home once stood,” said Amal Haboub, a 42-year-old mother who had taken refuge in a UN shelter in central Gaza. “The roof is gone, the walls are cracked and blackened, but it’s still standing. That’s more than I dared to hope.”
“Our family home, where we shared every memory, has vanished,” said Entisar Ashour, a resident of Tel Al-Hawa, who was forced to flee under heavy bombardment.
“I didn’t come back looking for walls,” said Huda Al-Najjar, a schoolteacher from Khan Younis. “I came to stand on my land. To show my children that we’re still here.”
“The genocide may have paused, but our suffering hasn’t,” said Nouran Mohamed, a nurse at Al-Aqsa Hospital. “We are treating trauma, injuries, and psychological wounds that may never fully heal. Yet the resilience I see in people every day is beyond words.”
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