Gazans who were displaced by the war began returning home on Sunday to discover the devastation bringing some to express shock and extreme frustration.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said 436,000 buildings were destroyed in the Strip and 276,000 were severely or partially damaged after 90% of Gazans were displaced.
"What have we achieved? I have four houses and they are all flattened," Mohammed Abu Bilal, who returned to Rafah told CNN. "Where am I? Is this my house? Is this my life?" Another resident who returned to the city said he came to see if his house was standing but found it destroyed. "We are defeated. We have no life. We will live on the streets."
The IDF began withdrawing from populated areas on Sunday as the cease-fire and hostage exchange deal came into effect after a three-hour delay after Hamas failed to deliver the names of the three first hostages that were to be freed. Thousands of people returned to areas in the northern parts of the Strip, even before the truce was announced.
They came carrying their belongings on bicycles to mule-drawn buggies and voiced their concern over how they would manage amid the rubble. "My house was destroyed six months ago. We may be living in a tent, one resident of Jabaliya said.
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Nadia Abu Khalub, from Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, said she could not believe the destruction. "The entire area was bombed, and the devastation affected everything: people, stones and trees. There is nothing left of my house except the key," she said. "all our memories were destroyed with the house. May God compensate and reward us for this catastrophe. This is Hamas's victory."
Gazans return to find destruction
(Video: Reuters)
“It’s an indescribable scene. It’s like you see in a Hollywood horror movie,” Mohamed Abu Taha, a Rafah resident, told AP as he and his brother were inspecting his family home. “Flattened houses, human remains, skulls and other body parts, in the street and in the rubble.” He shared footage of piles of rubble that he said had been his family’s house. “I want to know how they destroyed our home.”
Ahmed Abu Ayham, 40, of Gaza City said that while the ceasefire may have spared lives, the losses and destruction made it no time for celebration. "We are in pain, deep pain and it is time to hug one another and cry," he said.
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Hamas military wing terrorists in show of force during hostage release on Sunday
(Photo: Dawoud Abu Alkas / Reuters)
For Hamas the cease-fire allowed armed fighters to come out of hiding onto the streets to demonstrate power. Hamas police officers in uniform were seen in several areas of the Strip and when the three Israeli hostages were brought to the Red Cross team a large group of Hamas members of the military wing entered Gaza City center in a show of force.
"All the resistance factions are staying in spite of (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu," one told Reuters. "This is a ceasefire, a full and comprehensive one God willing, and there will be no return to war in spite of him."