Palestinian farmer’s hopes shattered as both homes are reduced to rubble before ceasefire

(MENAFN) Abd al-Sattari, a Palestinian farmer, had two homes in Gaza’s Rafah. For the past nine months, he had been living in displacement after Israeli forces invaded the southern city. At 53, Abd had clung to the hope that if one of his houses was destroyed during the Israeli attacks—attacks that had decimated over 70% of the area—the other would remain intact, providing a refuge for his family when the war eventually ended.

However, on Sunday, even before the ceasefire officially took effect, Abd and his eldest son Mohammed left their family behind in their displacement tent in al-Mawasi, located on Gaza’s southwestern coast. They hurried to visit each of their properties, only to confront the harsh reality: both homes, one in Shaboura and the other in Mirage, had been leveled to the ground. Abd’s hopes of returning to some semblance of normal life were shattered.

The long-awaited ceasefire agreement took effect on Sunday morning, offering a glimmer of hope for an end to a brutal war that has claimed over 46,900 lives, devastated much of the besieged region, and displaced more than 2 million people. Even before the ceasefire began, hundreds of families, having fled the Israeli invasion, were returning to Rafah, carrying their few belongings in cars, carts, and on bicycles.

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