Israel has completely destroyed more than 1,000 buildings in the districts of Zeitoun and Sabra in Gaza City this month.
Formerly a flourishing and dynamic district of Gaza City, Zeitoun was known for its animated markets, its Olive Gowers and its united community. Generations of families lived here, building lives, memories and future.
Today, Zeitoun is unrecognizable. The whole blocks have been flattened. The houses reduced to the rubble, Hani Mahmoud of Tel Aviv Tribune spoke with the Palestinians who once called the neighborhood.
“We slept, and at midnight, the roof collapsed on our heads, and the pieces were everywhere on us. We woke up terrified. I put my prayer dress and started calling my children. I called their names Ibrahim, Mahdi, Mohamed, Sanad.
Israel has completely destroyed more than 1,000 buildings in the districts of Zeitoun and Sabra de Gaza City since he started his sustained assault on the city on August 6, trapping hundreds of rubble, the Palestinian Civil Defense said this month.
Israeli tanks rolled in the Sabra district while Israel moves to fully occupy the city of Gaza, forcing nearly a million Palestinians to the south in concentration areas.
The magnitude of destruction is amazing. What was once alive with sound and color is now silent, gray and buried in the dust.
“Everything in Zeitoun was beautiful”
“I will never forget Zeitoun as long as I still breathe. It is a tragedy. I am injured by what the Israelis do in the neighborhood … Everything in Zeitoun was magnificent – birds, water, greenery, agricultural land, olive trees, “said Mahdi Awad.
The neighbors who gathered for meals in the houses of the other now sleep in the open air, mourning and uncertain of tomorrow.
A number of houses have been affected in Gaza City, which was severe – in particular its Zeitoun and Sabra districts – for about a week now.
Under the mounds of debris and concrete is a deeper injury: the displacement of families, the silence of the neighborhoods and the loss of history.
“The destruction is much greater than the buildings in this district. Most infrastructure and residential areas, schools, mosques, navigable roads and even pipelines and water networks have been seriously damaged, making life and life here, “said Asem al-Nabih, a spokesperson for Gaza Municipality.
For many young Palestinians, Zeitoun is not only a place on the map; It is the only house they have ever known.
“I learned there, I grew up there. I am one of the children in the neighborhood. I would like to be able to wake up and tell myself to go back. Even if my house was bombed – and I’m sure it’s – or if everything is gone, I still want to go back, “said Mahdi Kheded, a young Palestinian resident.
Despite devastation, this desire is stronger than the fear of bombing.
From life to rubble, and from rubble to desire – the story of Zeitoun lives in his people. For them, the house is not only walls and a roof; It is memory, belonging and determination of return.
