Bittersweet relief in Gaza as displaced Palestinians face mass destruction

Bittersweet relief in Gaza as displaced Palestinians face mass destruction

GAZA CITY
Bittersweet relief in Gaza as displaced Palestinians face mass destruction

The initial excitement over the ceasefire among Palestinians on Jan. 20 gave way to a bittersweet sense of relief and disappointment, as the displaced found themselves confronted with widespread devastation and an overwhelming landscape of rubble in Gaza.

As the ceasefire took effect, thousands of displaced and war-weary Palestinians set off across the devastated Gaza Strip to return home.

Ninety Palestinians were freed from Israeli prisons and were greeted by large crowds of jubilant relatives, friends and supporters as they returned home to the occupied West Bank in the first prisoner exchange of the Hamas-Israel ceasefire following the release of three Israeli captives in Gaza.

The freed Palestinians included 69 women and 21 teenage boys – some as young as 12 – from the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem. After the doors opened, women hugged their relatives and cried tears of joy while throngs of people chanted, waved flags and climbed atop the vehicles. Others lit fireworks in the normally quiet suburb of Beitunia.

In the northern area of Gaza’s Jabalia, hundreds streamed down a sandy path, heading to an apocalyptic landscape piled with rubble and destroyed buildings.

"We are finally in our home. There is no home left, just rubble, but it's our home," said Rana Mohsen.

"What have we achieved? I have four houses and they are all flattened," said another resident Mohammed Abu Bilal, who returned to Rafah. “We have no life. We will live on the streets."

 Long path for recovery of mass Gaza destruction

Israeli bombardment and ground operations have transformed entire neighborhoods in several cities into rubble-strewn wastelands, with blackened shells of buildings and mounds of debris stretching away in all directions. Major roads have been plowed up. Critical water and electricity infrastructure is in ruins. Most hospitals no longer function.

The United Nations earlier said that it could take more than 350 years to rebuild.

The full extent of the damage will only be known as the fighting ended and inspectors have full access to the territory.

Using satellite data, the United Nations estimated last month that 69 percent of the structures in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, including over 245,000 homes.

The World Bank estimated $18.5 billion in damage — nearly the combined economic output of the West Bank and Gaza in 2022 — from just the first four months of the war.

Some 436,000 housing units — 92 percent of Gaza’s homes — have been affected, with 160,000 destroyed and 276,000 severely or partially damaged.

 ‘No time to lose’ for Gaza aid

Minutes after the truce began, the United Nations said the first trucks carrying desperately needed humanitarian aid had entered the Palestinian territory.

“At least 630 trucks with humanitarian aid entered Gaza on Sunday, with at least 300 of them going to the north. There is no time to lose,” Tom Fletcher from United Nations’ Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement.

After more than 479 days, the people of Gaza hear the sound of children playing instead of bombardments and airstrikes,” UNRWA commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini also expressed.

The ceasefire agreement allows for a dramatic uptick in humanitarian relief to enter Gaza. However, the U.N. has warned the increased aid allotment would be “only a start” in addressing the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the enclave, where Israeli strikes have laid waste to large swathes of territory and human rights groups have described “unspeakable” living conditions.

The World Food Program said it was moving full throttle to get food to as many Gazans as possible.

"We're trying to reach 1 million people within the shortest possible time.”

Palestine,