Nuseirat refugee camp, Gaza Strip, Palestine – At al-Nuwairi Hill, the closest level in Nuseirat to the al-Rashid coastal highway, Ansaf Khadra sits on the bottom together with her household for the second consecutive day, ready to be allowed to return to her house, or no matter is left of it, in northern Gaza.
Ansaf, a mom of 4, was one in all hundreds of displaced folks in southern Gaza who instantly headed for al-Rashid on Sunday after the discharge of 4 Israeli captives as a part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal the day earlier than.
The plan was to go to al-Rashid and attempt to get via Israel’s Netzarim checkpoint, then, past that, to Gaza’s north.
“I’ve been right here since early morning with my husband and youngsters,” Ansaf instructed Al Jazeera as she handed out sandwiches to her kids sitting on the bottom.
“Final night time I ready no matter belongings we might carry and left many issues to make it simpler to stroll,” she added. “We couldn’t even wait a minute. We wish to return to our land within the north instantly.”
The ceasefire deal, which started to be carried out on January 19 with the primary change of Israeli captives and Palestinian prisoners, was supposed to permit for the return of displaced Palestinians from southern Gaza to the north after the second change of captives for prisoners, which came about on Saturday.
Nonetheless, Israel forcibly blocked Palestinian civilians from approaching Netzarim on Sunday, firing on the crowds on not less than three separate events, in response to medical sources, and killing not less than two Palestinians, in response to al-Awda Hospital, the place the casualties had been acquired. At the least 9 folks, together with a baby, had been wounded.
Israel has insisted that one other feminine captive, Arbel Yehud, ought to have been launched on Saturday earlier than Palestinians had been allowed to return to their properties within the north.
The delay has left Palestinians right here annoyed. Ahmed Abu Dan puffed on the remnants of his cigarette as he sat alongside his household.
“We’ve been via a lot throughout this struggle,” the 55-year-old stated. “After they instructed us we might return to the north, we had been overjoyed, however Israel is deliberately souring our happiness by making us wait.”
Ahmed isn’t within the technicalities of the delay. His solely concern is returning house to Gaza Metropolis’s Shujayea neighbourhood, away from the reminiscences of 15 months of struggle and displacement.
“What’s one other day or two?” he quipped with fun. “We’re staying right here it doesn’t matter what, till they allow us to via.”
Ahmed and his household packed up their tent as quickly because the ceasefire started, gathering their important belongings in preparation for the troublesome journey again north.
The household has been displaced 11 instances because the struggle started, Ahmed stated, explaining that his well being and psychological state had deteriorated after enduring so many months dwelling in tents. The expertise signifies that, if he does make it again to the north, he has vowed by no means to depart once more – even when the ceasefire fails and struggle breaks out once more.
“We had been compelled to flee to supposedly secure areas, solely to be focused there as properly,” Ahmed stated. “I can’t wait to kiss Gaza Metropolis’s soil once more.
“I miss my relations and my house in Shujayea, even when partially destroyed. I miss my neighbourhood and every thing there.”
What’s left?
Whereas the entire of the Gaza Strip, a coastal enclave solely 41 kilometres (25 miles) lengthy, has been bombarded by Israel throughout its struggle, the north has been notably devastated.
Israel’s far-right settler motion has even pushed for the everlasting ethnic cleaning of Palestinians and the institution of unlawful settlements within the area, the house of the enclave’s largest city space earlier than the struggle, Gaza Metropolis.
Huge swathes of northern Gaza now seem uninhabitable, however Ansaf has heard that her house, whereas severely broken, remains to be standing.
“Based on my neighbours, just one room and a rest room in my home stay intact, however to me, that’s heaven in comparison with a life in displacement,” she stated with a broad smile.
“I miss my house a lot,” Ansaf added. “We had solely lived there for 9 months earlier than the struggle began, and I hadn’t even completed furnishing it.”
In contrast to Ansaf, Nada Awadallah has no details about the situation of her house in Gaza’s Metropolis’s Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood. What she does know is that the world round her house was a closed Israeli army zone, and was arduous to entry.
However that lack of knowledge isn’t a affirmation that her house has been destroyed. And for Nada, that is sufficient to attempt to return.
“I can’t consider the day of return has lastly come,” the 65-year-old stated, tears welling in her eyes. “I’ll endure the exhaustion. I’ve been right here since final night time, sleeping on the road, and I’m prepared to remain till we’re allowed via.”
Nada had fled together with her household – 5 kids and a number of other grandchildren – from Tal al-Hawa early within the struggle, ultimately settling in a tent in southern Gaza’s al-Mawasi. And all of these members of the family have determined, for now, to remain the place they’re.
“There was a debate amongst us about ready longer earlier than heading again, however I couldn’t wait any longer,” Nada stated. “I instructed them I’d crawl if I needed to. What issues is that I am going again and verify on my house.”
Returning to the rubble
Mahmoud Mohsen, a 57-year-old father of seven, visited his daughter’s grave in central Gaza’s Deir el-Balah cemetery earlier than heading in direction of Netzarim.
Mahmoud’s daughter, alongside together with her husband and three kids, had been killed in a bombing in Nuseirat in November 2023.
Initially from Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, Mahmoud fled southwards to Rafah at first of the struggle. After a number of displacements, he ultimately settled in Deir el-Balah.
“All I need now could be to return to the rubble of my house. Nothing else issues,” Mahmoud stated as he gazed in direction of the checkpoint. “I’ll keep right here till I’m allowed via.”
“Simply reaching this space has introduced me again to life. I miss Gaza’s air,” Mahmoud stated. “Our journey throughout the struggle was one in all hardship after hardship. Sufficient of this hell.”