
In pictures: Gaza's Palestinians return to homes reduced to rubble

A Palestinian youth carrying his belongings walks amidst rubble in a ruined neighbourhood of Gaza's southern city of Rafah on 20 January, as residents return following a ceasefire deal a day earlier between Israel and Hamas.
Since the ceasefire came into force on Sunday morning, thousands of displaced Palestinians have begun returning to their homes, which have been mostly reduced to rubble or left as half-standing structures.
Many were hoping to find their homes still habitable, but upon arrival have been shocked at the extent of the destruction.
Ahmad Agha, a Palestinian originally from Khuzaa town in eastern Khan Younis, returned to find his three-storey home completely flattened.
"I don't know where to go now. I'm now on the streets," he told Middle East Eye.
(Eyad Baba/AFP)

People walk past the rubble of collapsed buildings along Saftawi street in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on 20 January.
In Gaza City, entire neighbourhoods has been rendered uninhabitable by bombardment.
Izzat Qishawi, who is originally from the neighbourhood of Tal al-Hawa, said he and his family would be forced to find somewhere to rent, but prices have soared.
(Omar al-Qattaa/AFP)

A Palestinian woman reacts as she returns to her destroyed house in Jabalia, 19 January.
Gaza's civil defence said that over 10,000 bodies remain trapped under the rubble of destroyed buildings, with rescue teams unearthing 47 bodies in southern Gaza's Rafah since the ceasefire.
The bodies were transferred to the European Hospital near Khan Younis, according to Al Jazeera.
(Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters)

A man holds up a Palestinian flag while standing atop a collapsed building at Jabalia refugee camp on 19 January.
Some Palestinians have reported being barred from returning by Israeli soldiers, who remain stationed in certain areas and are reportedly firing at people attempting to return home.
Two people, including a child, were killed by Israeli soldiers in Rafah on Monday, Wafa reported.
"I couldn't head to our home because some people tried to reach the area and were killed. It seems Israeli forces are still stationed there," Rafeeq Mahmoud, originally from Rafah, told MEE.
(Omar al-Qattaa/AFP)
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