Gaza residents return to destroyed homes
Al-Monitor’s Asmaa al-Ghoul visits the Gaza Strip border areas that were heavily bombed by Israeli forces, and finds families searching through the ruins of their homes.
SHAAF, Gaza Strip — The calm that prevailed in the Gaza Strip during the three-day truce seemed like a strange guest, especially in the areas that had been battlefields only a few days earlier. People were seen walking on top of the ruins, now that the stench of death and the sounds of shelling have disappeared. The eastern border — which Al-Monitor visited on the first day of the truce on Aug. 11 — appeared calm, like a golden horizon, whereas previously just approaching it meant suicide.
With the danger in those areas having subsided, the displacement and suffering of families that came to inspect their homes becomes apparent. Some of these families had never been refugees before, as was the case with the Kafarna family, which resides on Abu Aouda Street in the city of Beit Hanoun. Here, the meaning of the phrase "the killing of beauty" applies. This city, which was full of trees and low-rise buildings, now resembles an abandoned construction site.
