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.

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.

Le Monde

Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.