The withdrawal of Israeli ground troops from southern Gaza over the weekend allowed some Palestinians to return to the town of Khan Younis and control their homes. But in the wake of a fierce, months-long battle and Israeli bombardment, some found only destruction.
“When I saw the scene I couldn’t handle it,” said Dr. Ahmad al-Farra, who returned on Sunday to find his family’s three-story villa reduced to rubble, surrounded by the few trees that remained. standing in what was once a verdant garden.
“I was completely devastated and almost passed out,” he said by phone Monday, adding that his wife and two teenage daughters broke down in tears when they saw what was left of their home.
“I worked for 20 years to build this house,” said Dr. al-Farra, 54, who ran the pediatric ward at Nasser Hospital before the family fled south to Rafah in January. “You build a house corner by corner, stone by stone.”
“And in the end,” he added, “with the push of a button it becomes debris.”
The rest of Khan Younis was “unrecognizable”, Dr al-Fara said. Most buildings and houses were completely demolished, partially destroyed or burned, and the roads were bulldozed. “Han Yunis was annihilated like it was in World War II or worse,” he said.
Dr al-Farra said “many, many people” returned to Khan Younis on Sunday. He soon realized that staying at home was not an option. But like many other Gazans taking refuge in Rafah, he said he soon planned to move his family’s tent somewhere in Khan Younis. He and others fear Israel’s commitment to send ground troops to Rafah in pursuit of Hamas leaders and fighters, an invasion many believe will come after the end of the holy month of Ramadan this week.
“The dreams of an entire family have vanished into thin air,” said Dr al-Farra. “Where are we going now? Are we going to spend the rest of our lives living in tents?’
Nima Abu Azoum, 45, said her family planned to return to Khan Younis from Rafah this week – a journey of about six miles that people make on foot, donkeys or, in rare cases, by car. But he said the long-awaited return home would not be what they had dreamed of since evacuating to Rafah at the start of the war.
Her nephews went to Khan Younis on Monday to prepare the family homes for the return. Instead, he said, they found the houses destroyed and the body of their 21-year-old brother Nader buried under the rubble. He had refused to evacuate with them to Rafah.
“I don’t have a home anymore — it’s gone,” Ms. Abu Azum said by phone Monday. “And nothing is left of our neighborhood.”
Akram al-Satri, 47, who traveled from Rafah to check his home on Monday, said very few houses were still intact in Khan Younis. Walking around town was “extremely challenging” because the streets were bulldozed and rubble was everywhere, he said in a phone call.
Mr al-Satri added that some people managed to retrieve the remains of loved ones from the collapsed houses, but could only identify them by their clothes as their bodies had decomposed.
