Almost all the 2.4 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, besieged by Israel, were displaced by the war triggered by the Islamist Hamas movement's unprecedented attack on Israel's soil on October 7, 2023. Since the ceasefire came into effect on January 19, they have been able to return to their homes. On January 28, the United Nations estimated that at least 376,000 Palestinians had returned to the north of the Gaza Strip, having traveled for miles across a landscape devastated by bombardment.
Waseem, 25, who was moved with his family to the southern part of the Gaza Strip by order of the Israeli army, dismantles his tent to return to his home in Deir al-Balah, in the center of the enclave, on January 28, 2025. RAMADAN ABED / REUTERS
Palestinians returning to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip, January 27, 2025. MOHAMMED SALEM / REUTERS
Palestinians in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, February 5, 2025. HATEM KHALED / REUTERS
Laundry drying in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip, February 5, 2025. ABDEL KAREEM HANA / AP
A Palestinian bakes bread in Jabaliya, in the north of the territory, on February 4, 2025. OMAR AL-QATTAA / AFP
Gazans traveling from the southernmost part of the enclave claim to have taken more than three days to reach the north of the territory. On arrival, all those interviewed by Agence France-Presse (AFP) said they were short of basic necessities, the northern Gaza Strip having suffered severe shortages throughout the 15 months of war. "We're all happy to be back, but our situation is catastrophic," summed up 52-year-old Mahmoud Kashko. "There's nothing here to help us live." Almost all the infrastructure has been destroyed, according to the Gaza municipal authorities, whose employees are trying to connect more or less destroyed homes to what remains of the network.
Palestinians in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip, February 5, 2025. ABDEL KAREEM HANA / AP
Ismael Mohammed, 47, and his children, who were displaced in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, search for their belongings among the rubble of their destroyed house in Jabaliya, in the north of the territory, on January 30, 2025. DAWOUD ABU ALKAS / REUTERS
Yasser and Abdulrahman play near the rubble of their house in Jabaliya, in the north of the enclave, on January 30, 2025. DAWOUD ABU ALKAS / REUTERS
A Palestinian woman inspects her damaged house in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip, February 4, 2025. OMAR AL-QATTAA / AFP
A Palestinian stands amid the rubble of residential houses along Saftawi Street in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip, February 5, 2025. OMAR AL-QATTAA / AFP
Palestinian children in their home in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip, February 4, 2025. OMAR AL-QATTAA / AFP
A Palestinian woman hangs out washing among debris in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip, February 4, 2025. OMAR AL-QATTAA / AFP
A Palestinian gets a haircut in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip, February 4, 2025. OMAR AL-QATTAA / AFP
Palestinians in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, February 5, 2025. HATEM KHALED / REUTERS