Within this important development, Israeli troops vacated from the Netzarim Corridor, a critical military area breaking northern Gaza from the south, after a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas on January 19. It permitted hundreds of Palestinians to return into their homes, many of which lead back into rubble and despair.
This is the first step in implementing the ceasefire agreement, which has so far seen 16 Israeli hostages released and 566 Palestinian prisoners freed. The agreement is expected to be completed in three weeks, and by the end of its first phase, up to 33 hostages and 1,900 prisoners will be released. However, Israel has confirmed that eight of the 33 hostages are no longer alive. The ceasefire was brokered in the wake of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, during which 251 hostages were taken and approximately 1,200 people were killed, sparking the ongoing Gaza war.
The human toll of the conflict has been staggering. According to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, at least 48,189 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive. The United Nations estimates that about two-thirds of Gaza’s buildings have been damaged or destroyed, leaving much of the territory in ruins. The evacuation of Netzarim Corridor has allowed Palestinians who were not allowed to get back to the area for many years to see the extent of the damage. It gives them a chance to start over all over again and start rebuilding their home and life again which they have lost a long time ago. This was the scene on Sunday, the armed forces set up checkpoints allowing the crowds to cross the corridor , young and old, women and children on foot, by car, and by buggy piled high with furniture, mattresses, and other necessities.
For most, the journey north was a heartbreaking return to neighborhoods reduced to rubble. Osama Abu Kamil, a resident of al-Maghraqa, just north of Netzarim, described the scene to the AFP news agency as a “catastrophe.” He recounted, “What we saw was horrific destruction. The complete destruction of every house in addition to shops and farms and mosques and universities and the courthouse happened because of the [Israeli] military occupation.
Possibility of recovery
Much of the damage exceeds peoples’ capabilities to understand how they might possibly recover. The communities where families previously thrived before the occupation now require them to start the entire rebuilding process from absolute foundations. People find it impossible to endure the painful sight of their houses and job destruction. The woman walked past her destroyed family residence without revealing her identity while repeating “We knew it would be bad but everything exceeded our expectations.”
The Israeli military refrained from commenting about the scale of destruction yet stated that its military actions were needed to hit Hamas targets while deterring future attacks. Global assistance groups are struggling to help the returning inhabitants yet available aid resources cannot meet the extensive needs.
Strategic silence about the damage level persists alongside both local and international efforts to build peace and restore destruction. The Palestinians who are returning to their northern homes face multiple serious difficulties on the path ahead. The withdrawal from the Netzarim Corridor will temporarily provide ease yet it will require multiple generations to mend both physical and emotional wounds stemming from this conflict.
