Two Years After the War: Life Between Rubble and Forced Returns in Gaza
Two years after the war that erupted on 7 October 2023 in the Gaza Strip, which reshaped daily life, accompanied by widespread forced displacement that destroyed livelihoods, thousands of Palestinians found themselves facing a harsh reality far from the sense of return they had hoped for. As the intensity of the bombing subsided, Palestinian families returned to their residential areas. However, this return was not the end of displacement but the beginning of a new phase of suffering.
Today, these families live between tents and partially damaged homes, in dwellings that lack basic living standards and pose a constant danger to their inhabitants, with no real housing alternatives available. International estimates indicate that reconstructing Gaza could cost around $70 billion with no clear timeline, deepening the humanitarian crisis and increasing the fragility of living conditions, at a time when safe housing remains a postponed dream for thousands of families.
Forced Return to Unsafe Homes
Husni Muhanna, the spokesperson for Gaza Municipality, explains that the return of families to partially damaged homes does not reflect an improvement in housing conditions but rather a necessity imposed by the lack of alternatives. More than two years after the war of annihilation that caused widespread destruction of residential buildings, thousands of citizens were forced to reside in unsafe homes that lack the most basic safety standards.
According to Muhanna, the municipality's current role focuses on warning about the risks of living in structurally compromised buildings without engineering inspection, advising against occupying upper floors, cracked walls, and damaged rooms, and intervening to remove immediate hazards whenever possible. They also coordinate with humanitarian organizations to provide temporary solutions, such as caravans and tents, along with field monitoring of damages. He emphasizes that these interventions are limited and cannot replace comprehensive reconstruction or address the root of the crisis.
Muhanna warns that structural risks include cracks in columns and ceilings and potential collapses due to rain, wind, and falling concrete parts. He notes that injuries and fatalities have occurred from sudden collapses, stressing that building classifications—whether partially or fully destroyed—remain preliminary and do not substitute for a full engineering assessment, which is currently unavailable due to lack of resources.
Regarding housing conditions, Muhanna states that minimum standards for adequate housing, including safety, protection from weather, access to water, and sewage systems, do not apply to most returnees. They live in homes threatened with collapse and lacking basic services, while tents no longer provide suitable protection.
Despite the dangerous conditions, Muhanna emphasizes that moving beyond the "post-tent phase" requires the occupation and the international community to assume their legal and humanitarian responsibilities: opening crossings, allowing construction materials and heavy machinery in, launching emergency housing programs, supporting municipalities, and transitioning from temporary relief to comprehensive and sustainable reconstruction.[1]
Homes at Risk of Collapse: A Daily Threat to Residents
Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza, states that collapsing homes pose a real and escalating threat to residents’ lives. Thousands of damaged buildings in the Strip could collapse at any moment, threatening their inhabitants. Citizens continue to live in these homes primarily due to the lack of alternatives, often preferring to stay under a concrete roof threatened with collapse rather than live in tents that fail to provide minimum living conditions.
Basal reports that since the ceasefire began on 10 October 2025, 50 homes have completely collapsed, while rain and wind during storms caused more than 120 homes to collapse partially. Strong winds and heavy rains also damaged or flooded over 90% of displaced persons’ tents. Civil defense teams received more than 700 emergency calls, resulting in the deaths of 25 people, including six children who succumbed to freezing cold, with others killed by building collapses or falls into wells and rainwater pools.
The role of the civil defense is currently limited to warning families about the dangers of staying in unsafe homes and advising evacuation where possible. Response remains constrained by the lack of heavy machinery, difficulty in clearing debris, and the absence of safe housing alternatives. Basal warns that continued residence in damaged buildings, especially during upcoming storms, may increase casualties, and delays in reconstruction exacerbate daily risks and leave civilians constantly exposed.[2]
Life Among the Rubble: The Reality of Returnees to Damaged Homes
Field data reveal the extensive destruction in Gaza, where thousands of homes are uninhabitable amid a severe housing crisis and a lack of temporary solutions. Many families cannot rent alternative housing due to high rents and scarcity of apartments. Additionally, Israel controls about 55% of Gaza’s territory, limiting options for affected families.
In Khan Younis, southern Gaza, Mohammed Matar returned to his damaged, collapsing home after living in tents, driven by the lack of alternatives and his attachment to the place, his family, and his neighborhood. He describes tent life as harsh in every detail, offering no protection from summer heat or winter cold, lacking water, sanitation, and privacy, infested with insects and rodents, and prone to flooding. Despite the dangers and lack of basic amenities, he finds a concrete roof provides a minimum level of stability and is preferable to the realities of displacement.
In northern Gaza, Qassem Afaneh’s harsh displacement began in the first days of the war when his house was destroyed, forcing him to move between several locations searching for shelter—from rented homes he had to leave due to exploitation to an eight-month stay in a shelter under exhausting and humiliating conditions. Upon returning to northern Gaza in February, he resided in a relative’s damaged home, considering that staying in a cracked house, despite the risks, offered protection and privacy.
Afaneh describes tent life as dehumanizing, emphasizing that displacement is not temporary but a daily struggle across all seasons. During his second displacement from northern to southern Gaza, he had to live in an agricultural bathroom, reinforcing his belief that a house, no matter how damaged, is less harsh than a tent, as it allows one to feel human despite the bleak reality.
The suffering of residents goes beyond losing their homes. Damaged infrastructure and the risk of building collapse increase the daily tragedy. According to the UNOSAT satellite program on 31 October 2025, around 81% of buildings in Gaza were damaged, restricting movement and access to basic services and humanitarian aid.
Dunia Al-Wahidi, from northern Gaza, sits amidst the remains of her destroyed home, trying to organize the rubble to provide temporary shelter for her children after losing her husband in the war. She did not recognize her house upon return, as bombing had completely altered it, yet she chose to stay rather than live in tents, despite the harsh conditions.
Dunia recounts daily struggles—from lack of potable water and electricity to destroyed roads and difficulty obtaining basic necessities—while continuing to clean and prepare the space with available covers and tarps, trying to provide her children a roof against winter cold and summer heat. Surrounded by rubble, she says a destroyed home is still preferable to a tent in a reality that leaves no other choice but to hold onto what remains of life.
This suffering is not isolated. Thousands of families across Gaza live in damaged homes that have become daily hazards instead of safe spaces. With worsening storms and dropping temperatures, the hardship of returning families in damaged homes and temporary tents, which provide minimal protection against rain, wind, and freezing cold, continues to grow. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), around 80% of the population relies on humanitarian aid, while tents and homes of nearly 65,000 families were damaged by winter storms in December 2025.
Ongoing Shock: The Psychological Impact of Living in Partially Destroyed Homes
Dr. Diya Abu Aoun, a mental health specialist, points out that living in damaged homes after returning from displacement does not end the trauma but perpetuates it daily. A house, which should be a space of safety and stability, becomes a constant source of anxiety due to fears of collapse, harsh cold, and lack of privacy, leading to continuous stress, fatigue, and sleep disturbances. These conditions revive memories of bombing or forced displacement and exacerbate post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, such as nightmares and flashbacks.
This psychological burden extends to family and social relationships. Overcrowding in damaged homes and scarce resources increase family conflicts, force children to take on adult responsibilities, and lead many families to socially withdraw, avoiding hosting others in semi-destroyed homes, further deepening isolation and weakening social bonds.
At the individual level, this harsh reality affects daily behavior and future aspirations, as focus narrows to securing basic survival needs, accompanied by increasing feelings of hopelessness, lethargy, and reduced energy for social interaction or planning for the future.
Despite the bleak scenario, Dr. Abu Aoun stresses that community-based psychological support, partial rehabilitation of homes, and creating safe spaces for interaction and support can alleviate the impact, gradually restore hope, and help individuals and families rebuild the meaning of “home” from within before repairing it from the outside.[3]
In This Harsh Humanitarian Reality
Palestinian civil society organizations and some individual initiatives continue their attempts to alleviate the suffering of affected families by providing medical, relief, and psychological support. However, these efforts remain limited given the scale of the disaster. Amjad Al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGO Network, states that Israeli restrictions and adverse weather have exacerbated the crisis, leaving hundreds of families in tents lacking basic protection. He stresses that tents are insufficient solutions, while thousands of residents remain at risk living in damaged, collapsing homes.
Gaza After the War: Unlivable Conditions
The Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, home to over two million people living in uninhabitable conditions. Extensive damage to infrastructure, water contamination, and the destruction of sewage and electricity networks have increased risks amid severe overcrowding, accumulated waste, and insect infestations, contributing to the spread of infectious diseases.
Most displaced people are concentrated in small areas such as Al-Mawasi, which constitutes less than 3% of the Strip, lacking basic living standards. UN warnings highlight ongoing food insecurity and malnutrition for over 75% of the population, alongside the continued collapse of damaged buildings and flooding of displaced persons’ tents due to rain and wind.
Beyond forced displacement and loss of shelter, the situation has escalated into systematic international crimes by the Israeli occupation against Palestinian civilians, targeting civilian life as a whole. Extensive targeting of residential infrastructure has led to widespread forced displacement and made safe return to destroyed homes virtually impossible, violating the principles of distinction and proportionality under international humanitarian law.
These practices constitute violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, especially Article 49, which prohibits forced transfers and mass deportations, and Article 50, which obliges an occupying power to protect civilians and ensure their welfare. Displaced persons are faced with a reality that entrenches permanent displacement. The widespread destruction of civilian property amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute and international criminal law, in the absence of effective international accountability. According to human rights lawyer Dr. Salah Abdel Aaty, president of the International Commission for Supporting Palestinian Rights (ICSPR), this reality continues to worsen with delays in implementing the second phase of the ceasefire agreement due to Israeli stalling.
With the first phase nearing completion, which is supposed to pave the way for reconstruction and organization in the Strip, implementation remains suspended despite increasing international and UN calls to start. This delay leaves thousands of displaced persons in a precarious humanitarian situation, without any real progress toward rebuilding or providing safe housing alternatives.
Between the rubble and the tents, Gaza residents live in a suspended present without safety or a clear horizon. Every day of delay in reconstruction means more risks to lives and further exhaustion for families already drained by displacement and loss. In this grim scenario, alleviating suffering is not a postponed option but an urgent humanitarian necessity, beginning with the provision of safe housing and taking responsibility for rebuilding what the war has destroyed.
Sources:
[1] Phone interview, Husni Muhanna, spokesperson for Gaza Municipality, 4/1/2025
[2] Phone interview, Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza, 3/1/2025
[3] Phone interview, Dr. Diya Abu Aoun, mental health specialist, 3/1/2025
[4] Phone interview, Dr. Salah Abdel Aaty, president of the International Commission for Supporting Palestinian Rights, 6/1/2025
