TEL AVIV — Buildings burnt out and reduced to rubble were all that was left to return to for thousands of displaced Palestinians who made the journey back to northern Gaza on foot this week after more than a year away.
“Everything is destroyed as you can see. Nothing remains,” Asma Qaoud told NBC News’ crew on the ground on Monday in what remained of the Jabalia refugee camp.
“Everything has been devastated — our homes and our hearts,” Qaoud, 32, said as she sat in front of a collapsed building surrounded by rubble.
She was one of thousands of displaced Palestinians to make the trek back to northern Gaza after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect on Sunday and brought to a halt Israeli forces’ 15-month offensive in the enclave. The first days of the truce have seen the release of the first hostages held in Gaza by Hamas, as well as Palestinians held in Israeli custody.
Asma Qaoud, 32, speaks to NBC surrounded by ruins in Jabalia, northern Gaza on Monday.
According to the United Nations, around 90% of Gaza’s population — nearly 1.9 million people — have been displaced from their homes and forced to live in tent camps and other makeshift shelters. The U.N. has previously estimated that around 60% of Gaza’s infrastructure has been destroyed, including schools and hospitals.
Across the enclave, video captured by NBC News showed similar scenes of ash-covered buildings and streets lined with the shattered debris from homes and shops. The Gaza Civil Defense on Tuesday said in a post on Telegram that 66 bodies were pulled from rubble across Gaza on Monday.
Like many others, the war has cost Qaoud more than just her home.
“My brother was killed,” she said, explaining to NBC News that she found his body upon her return to the Jabalia refugee camp. Her husband, meanwhile, was still being held in Israeli custody as she tried to figure out where to sleep and how her next days and weeks would look.
More than 47,000 people have been killed in Israel’s offensive in Gaza, according to local health officials, though researchers estimate the death toll is likely significantly higher, with thousands of people still missing and feared buried under the rubble.
An Al-Qassam Brigades member directs aid as it arrives in Khan Younis, southern Gaza on Monday.
Israel launched its offensive following the Hamas-led Oct. 7 terror attacks in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage. More than 90 people continue to be held captive in Gaza. Three women held hostage by Hamas — Doron Steinbrecher, 31, Emily Damari, 28 and Romi Gonen, 24 — were released on Sunday, with celebrations in Israel marking their release.
Meanwhile, displaced Palestinians — who comprise most of Gaza’s population — began to return to their neighborhoods and grapple with the consequences of much of the enclave’s infrastructure being destroyed in the war, which has also fueled a devastating humanitarian crisis in the enclave.
An officer directs traffic in Khan Younis, southern Gaza on Monday as civilians return to their homes.
In the wake of the ceasefire, hundreds of trucks carrying aid have flowed into Gaza, with 600 bringing in aid and commercial supplies on Sunday and 900 entering Monday according to UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees.
Displaced Palestinians return to their homes at the Jabalia Refugee Camp in Gaza City on Monday.
Juliette Touma, UNRWA’s communications director, told NBC News that it was unclear how many trucks would enter Gaza on Tuesday, but said “significant progress” had been made in getting aid into Gaza compared with earlier this month, when an average of around 50 trucks were entering the enclave each day.
“At long last, the ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza offer a ray of hope,” António Guterres, secretary-general of the United Nations, said in a statement on Monday as he urged “the release of all hostages and a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
