Palestinians return to destroyed homes in the northern gauze as a firestorm of sparkling “from one hard place to another”

The United Nations estimate that about 200,000 displaced Palestinians have returned to a broken northern part Gauze strip Since Israel approved their movement on Monday. Tim CBS News Gazi followed one man among the masses who returned home to see what was left from life before the war.

Men, women, children, and even the whole family started as soon as the Israeli army pulled out their troops and opened the road that stretched from the north to the south along the Gaza coast for the first time after more than a year.

As of Monday, the coastal road was a slow liquid river of people on the move, most of them are not sure that 15 months of bombing and warfare remained from their neighborhoods.

As the displaced people return to the north, carrying what few things can, the Hamas fighters kept and were on a charming offensive.

It was their brutal on October 7, 2023. The terrorist attack on Israel caused an devastating war. However, their visible presence throughout Gazi is also the point that despite Israel’s stated goal of destroying the group with its counter -attack, Hamas remains not only there but also the main one.

Among the thousands who walked the dusty coastal road on Monday, Monzer Al-Sharafi, who spent months in a tent with many members of his family.

“Life in the tent is unbearable. It’s painful and sad,” he told CBS News because his daughter helped him collect several things for a long walk in the north. “We are baked in the summer as in the oven, and in the winter we feel like we are in the freezer.”

Yet, while he left his loved ones behind him, al-Sharafi was worried.

“I’ll check what’s going on and coming back,” he said, kissing his daughter. “Inshallah, everything will be fine.”

“These are mixed feelings,” he said, “but I dance with joy. I wonder if my house is still standing or not. I’ll meet my parents there. I haven’t seen them 15 months. He was in the south and were in the north. “

Along the way, he met some old friends, and everyone seemed amazed and satisfied with finding themselves and living on each other.

However, the joy of a three-hour walk was mitigated by the destruction of the al-Sharafi along the coastal road. Nothing made it easier to anxiety because of what was waiting at the end of the trip.

“What is all this destruction? Our beautiful gauze is no longer beautiful. IDF destroyed everything … they destroyed trees, buildings and human beings,” he told CBS News. “I see the destruction wherever I look. I can’t recognize the streets and my path in Gaza. I feel like I’m a stranger. I feel like I left Gaza for 15 years, not 15 months.”

He finally reached his old neighborhood in Jabalia. He bent down to kiss the ground, but al-Sharafi said he couldn’t believe his eyes at the level of destruction.

However, he found his parents, and they live and as could be expected. It was his father who delivered the gut cracking, when Al-Sharafi said he wanted to leave and find his apartment building.

“It’s completely flattened now,” his father told him.

“It doesn’t matter, you’re sure!” comforted his mother.

“This is mine where I spent my childhood and my life,” he told CBS News, looking at the place where he was home. There was almost nothing left.

“This is my mattress and this is my sweater. This is my children’s bag,” he said, breaking the ruins.

“This is my daughter’s bear,” he said, breaking in tears. “I lost all my memories. My home is gone, my family photos are gone. We no longer have home.”

As well as hundreds of thousands of other returnees in Gaza, the future for al-sharafi, even if it is fragile the interruption of fire between Israel and Hamas Hold, he is completely uncertain. But he said that he was determined to renew his life, with his family, in a place they always called home.

“I left my family in a tent because I was sure that a trip from the south in the north would be painful,” he explained. “I was hoping to at least find a room that still stands. Unfortunately, they are there in the tent, and I’ll bring them here to another tent. I’ll bring them from one hard place to another. I’ll take my daughter Lulu’s bear.

Then, through tears and despair, Al-Sharafi’s resistance shone.

“We will renew our home again. We will renew it even if you destroy it a million times. This is our country, which is our soil.”