Gaza: Returning to Bombs, Bones, and Broken Homes

The horrors don’t end when the bombs stop falling. Palestinians in Gaza have a monumental task of rebuilding ahead of them. But before that, they must recoup and regroup. What are Palestinians returning to their home finding, and how are they planning for the future?

Gaza

Palestinians in Gaza are finally returning to their homes, at least what’s left of it, after 1.5 years of enduring a genocide. Their reward for survival? The bones of their deceased loved ones and piles of rubble where their homes used to stand.

The Ceasefire in Gaza was agreed upon on January 15, 2025 and took effect on January 19, 2025. In between the time of announcement and implementation, Israel continued heavily bombing the Gaza Strip. But once the actual date the ceasefire was meant to take effect, surely Israel stopped their onslaught after, right? Not quite. Even if Israel eventually decides to stop bombing Gaza post-ceasefire, Palestinians will have to deal with a minefield of unexploded munitions left by the IDF, reminiscent of how America left Vietnam after the war ended in 1975.  

Many Palestinians who have lived through the onslaught are searching for deceased family members or returning home to find the remains of loved ones killed in Israeli airstrikes. Many more are found in recently discovered mass graves.Those lucky enough to survive the genocide are finally able to return to what’s left of their homes, if they are still standing. Based on UN estimates, 69% of structures in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, including at least 245,000 homes. Still, Palestinians unwaveringly move forward, cleaning up their rubble-filled homes to make them as livable as they can.

Despite coming home to what many of us would deem uninhabitable, Palestinians are overcome with joy and gratitude for finding homes that simply continue to exist. Many homes that are still standing are filled with rubble, have entire sections of walls missing due to explosions, and don’t have any working utilities. 

The destruction in Gaza is unfathomable. It is littered with roughly 50 million tonnes of rubble, 12 times the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Estimates conclude it may take more than 15 years to clear all of the rubble, if 100 trucks were to work full time.

Words are truly insufficient in describing the complete destruction of this once bustling strip of land. Jabaliya is a city of rubble, Beit Hanoun is destroyed, and the razing of Gaza displayed in this short 15 second video should leave us all asking “how are we able to brush past this?”

The West Bank

It is hard to feel any sort of relief at the sight of this temporary reprieve for Palestinians in Gaza as their counterparts in the occupied West Bank have felt Israel’s wrath just days after the ceasefire was signed. According to UNRWA, 40,000 Palestinians in the West Bank have been forcibly displaced since the ceasefire. Any pretense that Israel’s actions have been from a defensive standpoint should be shattered. It seems clear that Israel has always been an occupying force set out to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from their land with no desire to have Palestinians live amongst them as equals. 

The political goal of Zionism since its inception has been to create a favorable demographic shift in Palestine, allowing for an apparent ‘democracy’ that works in favor of its non-Arab population. There are two ways to achieve such a change in demographics: either ethnically cleanse Palestinians from the land, or, if they remain, maintain an apartheid state where Palestinians have fewer rights. Both tactics are currently in play.

Gaza’s Future

The newly updated figures from Gaza’s Health Ministry on the death toll have reached close to 62,000. Death will continue to be a constant in Palestinian life in the coming weeks, months, and years, as more remains are found.

In addition to this, the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza is not over. In a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S President Donald Trump revealed a plan calling for US occupation of the land with massive resettlement of the Palestinian population present. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called the plan ethnic cleansing. Many Arab nations have rebuked Trump’s calls to have them take in Palestinian refugees, and Palestinians themselves have remained steadfast, claiming they are not going anywhere. 

Before Palestinians can even begin to visualize how to restore Gaza, they may have to prepare for another confrontation with Israel. Hamas postponed the next hostage release, citing 22 violations of the ceasefire by Israel which Israeli officials have admitted to. Netanyahu responded by saying the ceasefire will end if hostages are not released by this weekend, February 14, 2025. After negotiations with mediators from Egypt and Qatar, Hamas has said it will resume hostage releases for this weekend. While this hurdle was overcome, the negotiation process may provide a glimpse into future complications, due to Israel’s unwillingness to abide by the agreed upon ceasefire framework.

For those in the U.S. and other western nations, Gaza’s future is not out of our control. We don’t have to simply watch as people suffer. The United States supports Israel largely for being its  unsinkable aircraft carrier in the middle-east. We need to ask ourselves: how does sending billions of dollars worth of bombs to kill children benefit us? It doesn’t lower our grocery prices, it doesn’t make housing more affordable, and it doesn’t give us higher quality healthcare.

What Can We Do? 

Organize and educate yourself politically. Understand why our elected officials are reluctant to provide for us, their constituents, but can send Israel roughly $17.9 billion within the year following October 7, 2023. Get involved locally and build community strength through local elections, it’s where you can make the biggest impact.

In my town of San Luis Obispo, California, the local Muslim population held a community event to uplift Palestinian resistance and resilience. Get involved in your immediate community, you may be surprised how many people are as outraged at the state of the world as you are.

It’s only going to get better if we get up and do something about it.