Gaza- Five full months have passed for Attaf Abu Al-Jidyan following her displacement from Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip, and she does not know anything about the fate of her home, which she was forced to leave.
This Palestinian mother (47 years old) was hoping that the house was intact and had not been demolished by the Israeli occupation forces, and that she would return to it after the end of the war to live in it with her family consisting of her husband and three blind children, one of whom suffers from cerebral atrophy.
Ataf left her home on the fourth day of the war, which began on October 7, 2023, after the area she lived in was exposed to a barrage of occupation shells, and she was displaced to a shelter center in the city of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
Thunderbolt news
Since then, hardly a day has passed without Ataf calling her relatives and acquaintances who had not left the northern Gaza Strip to ask them about the fate of the house, to no avail, as it is located in an area close to where the occupation forces are located, until she received news of its complete demolition in March. Last March, which struck her like a thunderbolt.
She told Tel Aviv Tribune Net, “I have not broken my back raising my three blind children for 27 years, but the demolition of my house broke my back. I have never given up or gotten tired. I suffer and feel the pleasure of suffering in raising my children and I am patient, but its destruction demolished me. I have not gone through anything more difficult than that.”
Despite their visual impairment, two of Etaf Abu Al-Jidyan’s children obtained bachelor’s degrees from the College of Arts, majoring in English.
She continues, “I was hidden in my home, and now we live in tents without dignity and we do not know what awaits us. When the war ends, I will not find my home in which I used to live with pride and dignity.”
After the end of the aggression, Attaf Abu Al-Jidyan plans to return to her home and set up a tent on its ruins and live in it, adding, “At least I will have my dignity on my house and my land.”
One year has passed since the horrific criminal war waged by Israel on Gaza since October 7, which resulted in the death of more than 41,000 people and the injury of more than 96,000 others, in addition to 10,000 missing persons.
Since the first week of the war, Israel has displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their areas of residence, especially from the north of the Gaza Strip to its south, and they live in shelter centers made of tents amid harsh living conditions.
“The misery of life is lost”
In turn, Abu Muhammad al-Khalidi was displaced from his home in the first month of the war, due to its location close to the “Netzarim” axis, which separates the north of the Strip from its south. He currently lives in a tent in a shelter center in Deir al-Balah.
For two months, he tried to check on his house, which has an area of about 150 square meters, by visiting it briefly and with extreme caution, or by calling some of his neighbors who remained close to the place.
He told Tel Aviv Tribune Net, “I was going to check on him through side roads, and bringing some personal items from him, then I stopped due to the extreme danger and contented myself with calling some acquaintances by phone.”
After about two months, the news that Al-Khalidi (50 years old) had been waiting for and fearing came, which was that the occupation forces had completely demolished his house and leveled it to the ground, which he had bought about 3 months before the war for approximately 70 thousand dollars.
This caused him great shock, as he says, “When I think about demolishing the house, I have a psychological crisis, but I try to forget so that I can live. Until now, I am in shock. This is the misery of a lifetime. This is my house in which I put everything I own, and 10 thousand dollars of its price remain in debt.” I didn’t pay it.”
Al-Khalidi decided to build a tent on the ruins of his house after the end of the war, and to reside there, hoping that countries friendly to the Palestinian people would accelerate the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, or – at least – provide “viable” tents.
Despite the great risk of death from Israeli drone bullets or tank shells, Adel Faraj Allah insists on inspecting his house himself, from time to time. He told Tel Aviv Tribune Net, “The last time I visited my home, it was two days ago. It was a big risk.”
The home of the Palestinian young man is located south of the “Netzarim” axis. He was displaced five months ago, and is currently residing in a shelter in the city of Deir al-Balah. He explains that his house was partially damaged by Israeli tank shells, but it can be restored and lived in after the war ends.
Dream of returning
On his last visit, Faraj Allah set off from the Nuseirat camp towards his home located south of the Gaza Valley, aiming his gaze at the sky to avoid the danger of the small Israeli quadcopter drones, which the occupation forces use to assassinate Palestinians. He did not stay there for more than 5 minutes, and quickly returned before being discovered by these forces.
He also makes calls – on an almost daily basis – with some of his neighbors who live in UNRWA schools near the place, hoping to find information from them about the condition of his home.
Faraj Allah dreams of the day when the war ends and he can return to his house, where he will work on cleaning it, restoring what was destroyed, and covering its windows with nylon so that he can live in it again.
Unlike his predecessors, Khalil Aita does not find it difficult to check on the condition of his house, which he was displaced from at the beginning of last November, after his sister lived there with her family after she lost her home.
He told Tel Aviv Tribune Net that his house, located in northern Gaza City, was partially damaged by tank shells, but it was fit for living. He feels comfortable because his sister lives there, as this “protects him from theft” and provides him with a way to check on his situation.
Aita fears that Israel may not allow him and hundreds of thousands of displaced people to return to the northern Gaza Strip, and repeat what happened in the 1948 Nakba. He asserts, “I am very afraid of a repeat of the Nakba and our inability to return to our homes. There is an Israeli plan to displace the rest of the population and establish Jewish settlement in our lands.”
In 1948, Zionist armed gangs expelled the majority of the Arabs of Palestine from their homes by terrorizing them with massacres and bombing their villages with aircraft, and have not allowed them to return since that time.
