Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 31, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 26, 2026
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Families in Gaza return to destroyed homes amid a ceasefire, facing threats from rats and dogs. The struggle to rebuild and find safety continues.
By Mahmoud Issa
JABALIA, Gaza (Reuters) - The rats and dogs scavenging amid the ruins of her neighborhood in northern Gaza make Manal Al-Harsh's return to her wrecked home even more miserable.
Despite the respite from Israeli bombardments that a ceasefire has brought, she still fears for her family's security. They have trouble sleeping at night.
Even trying to find her children's clothes amid the rubble of their house in Jabalia is a forlorn task.
Al-Harsh, 36, has erected a makeshift tent from salvaged blankets to provide shelter for her and her children.
"We are staying here, but we are afraid of rats and everything around us. There are dogs. There is no place to settle. We have children. It is difficult," Harsh, 36, said as she stepped cautiously over the debris.
She said she had returned from the south of the Palestinian enclave when the ceasefire took effect but found her house destroyed.
Much of the rest of Gaza City also lies in ruins after 15 months of fighting and waves of Israeli airstrikes and artillery barrages that left it a shell of the bustling urban centre it was before the war.
"We are practically sleeping here, but we don't sleep. We are afraid someone might come upon us. We are sleeping and scared," she said.
"I want to retrieve some clothes for the children to wear. We came with nothing. Life here is expensive, and there is no money to buy anything."
Many of those returning, often laden with what personal possessions they still have after months of being moved around as the battlegrounds shifted, had trekked 20 km (12 miles) or more along the coastal highway north.
Like many displaced Palestinians, Al-Harsh faces uncertainty as she tries to salvage what remains. She had managed to pick some clothes from the rubble but they were in a sorry state.
"It's all torn. Nothing is good. As much as we do, as much as we retrieve, it is all stones," she said.
"Death is better," Al-Harsh said, her voice heavy with despair.
(Reporting by Mahmoud Issa; Writing by Tala Ramadan; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
The article discusses the challenges faced by families returning to destroyed homes in Gaza amid a ceasefire.
Returning families face threats from rats and dogs, and struggle with lack of resources and safety.
Families are erecting makeshift shelters and trying to salvage belongings from the rubble.
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