Gaza searches for life amid rubble and darkness

The Director General of the Government Media Office in Gaza, Ismail Al-Thawabta, announced during a press conference that the Palestinian people ‘are holding out at a historic turning point’ after 735 days of war. During the past two years, Israel have left widespread destruction in all aspects of life. Al-Thawabta noted that the Strip has been living in continuous darkness since the first day of the war, amid a complete collapse of infrastructure and basic services.

Two years of fire and ashes

Since 7 October 2023, the Gaza Strip has been the scene of one of the bloodiest military campaigns in modern history.

According to the statement, the Israeli army has dropped more than 200,000 tonnes of explosives – equivalent to 13 times the Hiroshima bomb – on an area of no more than 365 square kilometres. This destroyed more than 90% of the civilian infrastructure and left more than two million people in complete darkness and permanent forced displacement.

The report revealed that the number of martyrs and missing persons reached about 77,000, including more than 20,000 children and 12,500 women, while the number of wounded exceeded 170,000, including thousands of amputees and those with permanent disabilities. Al-Thawabta said that these figures are “not just statistics” but “faces, names and dreams buried under the rubble.”

Total collapse of the civil system

During the war, 38 hospitals, 670 schools, 165 universities and educational institutions, 835 mosques, three churches and 40 cemeteries were destroyed.

More than 300,000 housing units were levelled to the ground, turning Gaza into a city of tents and dust. According to the report, initial losses in various sectors exceeded $70 billion — staggering figures for a sector that has been under siege for more than 17 years.

With the ceasefire agreement announced under the plan proposed by Washington now in effect, the government media office issued a national appeal to the residents of the Strip to co-operate with official and humanitarian agencies to ensure the success of the recovery and reconstruction phase.

Al-Thawabta said:

Discipline, cooperation and trust are the keys to moving from under the rubble towards life, calling on the international community to:
• Immediately and completely stop the extermination, siege and forced displacement.
• Lift the complete siege on the Gaza Strip and open all crossings immediately.
• Hold the leaders of the occupation accountable before the International Criminal Court.
• Form an independent international commission to investigate war crimes.
• Develop an urgent plan for the reconstruction of Gaza with Arab and international funding.
• Protect medical, media and humanitarian personnel.
• Immediately release all Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
• Urgently evacuate the sick and wounded for treatment abroad.

A homeless people and a completely shattered city

With the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the northern and central Gaza Strip, tens of thousands of Palestinians return to their neighbourhoods to see abject destruction. Almost all homes were destroyed and razed to the ground, leaving no habitable shelters. The city, once home to families, was reduced to a map of rubble and debris.

The returning families, who had fled to escape Israeli bombardment, found themselves facing unnamed streets, houses without doors or windows, floors marred by rubble and crumbling concrete, no ready-made tents, no shelters, and no alternative housing, making sleeping on the streets and roads the only option.

Mahmoud Ismail, a resident returning to their destroyed areas, says with a voice filled with sadness:

Returning to the neighbourhood where I grew up was shocking. Everything was destroyed. The house where I used to hear my children’s laughter was gone, and the road leading to the market was reduced to rubble.

Children, who have lived in temporary displacement camps for two full years, now face complete darkness at night and stifling heat during the day. Many will be forced to sleep among the rubble for days, studying by the light of their phones or a single candle.

Women and mothers bear the responsibility of protecting their families amid this devastation, in the absence of urgent support from humanitarian agencies.

Hospitals operating in the dark

Hospitals, 38 of which were partially or completely destroyed, now operate only by the light of mobile phones. Doctors and nurses perform complex surgeries without electricity, in a scene where human courage blends with daily suffering. Medical staff have become part of the scene of collapse, trying to save lives amidst a total siege and massive destruction.

Residential neighbourhoods in northern and western Gaza have completely disappeared. Streets once teeming with life are covered in rubble. Schools and shops have been destroyed by over 90%. Public buildings and essential facilities, including water stations and electricity stations, are no longer usable, exacerbating the suffering of the population and making a return to normal life nearly impossible.

A tragedy without a roof

Displaced people face the scorching heat of day and the cold of night without shelter, lacking access to potable water, food, and even basic medicines. Children, women, and the sick are in a tragic situation that requires urgent intervention from the international community before the humanitarian catastrophe worsens and turns into an unmanageable crisis.

Today, Gaza is not just a devastated city; it is a vivid illustration of the suffering of a people who have lived under bombardment and despair, yet have persevered despite everything, hoping that the future will bring light after two years of continuous darkness and indescribable human suffering.

Featured image via the Canary