Gaza: With the ceasefire taking effect in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinians returned to their homes to stumble on the volume of massive devastation created by War.
According to Qatar News Agency, large swaths of Gaza territories have become rubble after the Israeli army destroyed the infrastructure and homes, leaving thousands of families in a state of shock, with some of them describing the situation as an earthquake that hit the region. The Palestinians found themselves in front of an adverse situation without hope for normal life given the major decimation which is omnipresent throughout the region.
Speaking to Qatar News Agency (QNA), the Palestinian Malik Al Najjar said he checked his house to find that it was turned into a pile of rubble in the town of Khaza'a, east of Khan Younis city, stressing that he was terribly shocked when he saw the devastation as if an earthquake had jolted the area and turned it into a pile of debris and stones.
He recounted his ordeals as a displaced person who fled east of Khan Younis to the western part and stayed there during the whole time of war in a tent and was waiting for the time when the war stops to return.
Upon arriving at the area, Al Najjar was flummoxed that he couldn't know anybody and didn't find any landmark that could help him pinpoint his home, stating that he could barely identify his house because it was adjacent to a mosque that was destroyed as well.
He vowed to return back to the same tent in the Al-Mawasi area, located west of Khan Younis, where the most basic necessities for life are nonexistent in the town to the east of the city, but at least the refugee camp offers a minimum level of fundamental services such as water and toilets and could harbor him and his family of seven members.
Amr Mohsen, from the Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood in the city of Rafah, located in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, told QNA that he returned to the neighborhood hoping to find his house, but unfortunately, he found it as a huge pile of stones and rubble with streets being blocked by stones of bombed-out buildings, along with massive craters in the middle of the streets that were entirely dredged and turned into sand roads without asphalt.
Head of the Rafah Municipality, Dr. Ahmed Al Soufi, confirmed to QNA that Rafah was turned into an ill-fate city after revealing the scary devastation caused by the ground offensive Israel launched last May, highlighting that Rafah faces a humanitarian tragedy after the Israeli aggression decimated the critical infrastructure, as well as thousands of homes and public utilities, prompting the need for a comprehensive contingency plan for reconstruction.
Spokesperson for the Gaza Municipality, Asim Al Nabeeh, stated that the municipality has embarked on cleaning up operations and opening the streets following the ceasefire deal, emphasizing that field teams are making incredible efforts to equip the roads and expedite the traffic flow.
There are full recovery plans in place to repair the infrastructure and sanitation and provide services, but the terrible thing is the shortage of potential given the major decimation caused by the Israeli occupation army, he said.
UN estimates the total cost of rebuilding Gaza's war-damaged infrastructure at USD40 billion, with around 37 million tons of rubble and over 70 percent of homes either damaged or destroyed.