Middle East conflict: Palestinians happy despite returning to ruins

Despite the devastation after their return to their home in the north, residents of the Gaza Strip have overjoyed and determined to rebuild them. “Finally the dream we were waiting for has come true. We return to our destroyed houses and the areas from which we were driven out 15 months ago,” says Hassan Al-Wadija of the German Press Agency by video call. Israel does not allow journalists to travel independently in the coastal strips.

Israel had allowed the displaced people to return from the morning after the Islamist Hamas had promised the release of an Israeli hostage, which, according to media reports, should also have German citizenship.

Thousands of people had been used for days on the south side of the Israeli military, which is created by the Israeli military, Netzarim-Korridor, who divides the Gaza Strip into two parts from west to east. “We know that we return to destruction and debris, but this is our country and our homeland. We will never give it up,” says Al-Wadija, who struggles with tears while holding some bags and his few belongings.

“Build my house from the ground up”

Marwa Omar also ran to the north with her three children on the Al-Raschid coastal road. “We have been waiting for this day for many months. Words cannot describe our feelings at this moment,” she says on the phone, beaming all over the face. “We hope that the ceasefire will keep that peace and again and life will be as it was before the dark hours in October,” added the 40-year-old. On October 7, 2023, the Hamas and other extremists from the Gaza Strip caused a massacre in Israel to trigger the Gaza War.

Tawfik Ridwan is torn between joy and tears while sitting on the ruins of his house in the sheikh-Radwan district of Gaza City. The father of five children from the south was traveling there for more than four hours.

Ridwan had already been driven into the city of Chan Junis in the south in the first week of the war. “I never thought that I would return to the district in which I was born,” says Ridwan. “The dream has become a reality. We are finally back,” he adds almost incredulously. “I will rebuild my house from the ground up, and little by little we will restore life that the crew stole to us,” the 30-year-old affirmed.