Under the blue skies of Gaza lie endless stretches of grey바카라a graveyard of once-loved homes. Rubble from one building blends into the next, making it impossible to tell where one ends and another begins.
Twenty-year-old Sanad walks from his makeshift shelter in Khan Yunis to Rafah, to see what remains of his five-story home. When the war began in October 2023, he and his family fled in fear for their lives. Just 12 hours after they left, their home was bombarded바카라while the structure was left standing, the home was hollowed out. In the second bombing, however, most of it turned to rubble.
바카라Everything is gone,바카라 Sanad says in a video he posts on social media after he바카라s come to terms with reality that his home really is gone. His eyes are puffy and cheeks look flushed, but when he faces the camera, he shrugs.
바카라Everything is gone but all we can say is thank God for everything.바카라
As Sanad treads through the one portion of the house which remains standing, barely, he finds some personal belongings, remnants of a happier time.
바카라This isn바카라t just a house. It바카라s a reminder of everything I바카라ve lost and everything l바카라ve had to fight for since,바카라 he says, 바카라being here again is painful, but it also reminds me of the resilience and hope that have kept me going all these years.바카라
Amid the wreckage바카라broken pipes, ceiling fan blades, and splintered furniture바카라a copy of the Quran lies open. Its binding has come undone, and it바카라s missing most of its pages. Sanad picks it up gently.
He looks around, his eyes fixing on the stairway바카라now leading to nowhere. He walks toward it and begins to climb. As he reaches the top, a scene unfolds before him바카라one that looks like a set from a dystopian, apocalyptic film. Only this was the reality of Rafah.
Slain trees lie scattered among the ruins, their trunks broken like the city itself. Twisted metal peeks out from under the crumbled cement structures. The neighbourhood where Sanad once played football as a child is gone바카라reduced to dust and memories
With most of the house blown to bits, Sanad tries to salvage whatever he can. He digs through the debris, pulling out a few pairs of clothes바카라dusty jeans and some colourful shirts. When he and his family fled, they packed only what they could carry. For the past year and a half, they have been living off those few belongings.
His father sits atop a mound of rubble, patiently removing each misshapen piece, one by one. Even he doesn바카라t know what he바카라s searching for바카라perhaps a memory, a fragment of their past, anything that still feels like home.
바카라In the end we just took some wood for fire and clothes and then left,바카라 Sanad says.
The twenty-year-old also finds something he perhaps would have preferred not to바카라 a piece of the very bomb that destroyed his home.
Sanad Osama Al-Qadi is one of ten in his family. He once lived in a happy home with his father, two brothers, sister, and their families. Life was normal then바카라he spent his days studying, dreaming of becoming a pharmacist one day.
For now, they return to Khan Yunis, clinging to the hope of rebuilding their home. But Sanad doesn바카라t know how that will happen. There is no money, no manpower, no resources, no help. Even finding a meal each day is a struggle.
