In the rubble of Gaza, Palestinians ask: 'Why?'

All that is left of what were once residential buildings and shops is grey rubble, torn clothes, pieces of metal — and memories of the lives that were lost. Adli al Kolak grieves the loss of his brother and other relatives in the mourning tent the family put up opposite the rubble of their destroyed house. Twenty-one members of his extended family were killed during Israeli airstrikes in the early hours of May 16. Al Kolak lives next door.

"I can't really describe my feelings," al Kolak said. "It's a feeling of depression, sadness, fear. I cannot really understand what happened. I am really shocked. It took two, three, minutes, and you find the building totally destroyed, all flattened and your relatives are all under the rubble." He still hears the cries for help from relatives, including children, who were trapped under the rubble. Only few among them made it out alive. "What does a 6-month-old baby have to do with this?" he asked. "Did it shoot rockets at Israel?"

In a building further up Al Wehda Street, the home of the Abu Al-Ouf family was also hit by an airstrike. Anas lost his fiancee, Shaima Abu al-Ouf, in the strike. "We talked on the phone during the day, and in the evening when suddenly there was this crazy noise. The line was cut. I sent her a message, but she didn't reply," Anas said. "Then we heard that the area was bombed." The search went on for over 10 hours until he found her at the morgue. 

"When I saw her, she had a smile on her face," Anas said. "It feels like a knife in my heart that is digging deeper. But she is in a better place now." Shaima was killed alongside several relatives.

One member of the extended family was Ayman Abu Al-Ouf, who was the head of internal medicine at Gaza's Al Shifa hospital. The doctor also oversaw the coronavirus laboratory and response unit. "We still have the urge to call him for advice if we need something," said fellow doctor Khaled Khadoura, who is preparing for his shift in the COVID-19 ward, adding that the staff was still in shock over the death.

The death of so many civilians in this particular street has led to questions about the targeting of residential buildings.

The 11-day conflict killed 248 Palestinians. Dozens of them were reported to be militants, but there were also at least 66 children killed. More than 1,900 people were injured according to health officials in the Gaza Strip. In Israel 12 people, including one soldier and a child, were killed by militants firing rockets and mortar rounds toward civilian areas in Israel.

While some families mourned their loved ones, others tried to pick up their lives again, still being shell-shocked over the intensity of the strikes on the small enclave. A few hours after the cease-fire was announced on Friday, streets suddenly filled up with people running much needed errands or simply walking around their neighborhoods to take stock of what happened. For many it was a sense of deja-vu. Gaza has seen three previous wars and numerous shorter military escalations between Hamas and Israel in the past decade. And, amid this widespread destruction, the militant Hamas group, which rules Gaza, has claimed victory.

"I am thankful that I wasn't harmed in this war," Tareq Frangi said. "But I am confused: I don't know whether I should be glad or sad. It's total confusion." 

Another passerby, Susanne Abu Shaban, welcomed the ceasefire but did not necessarily believe that anything would change on the ground: She does not expect an easing of the blockade on Gaza or travel restrictions. "Nothing better will come out of this," Abu Shaban said. "I think many people would rather leave Gaza if they could."

Gaza's 'collective punishment'

The reconstruction effort will take time. According to the United Nations, more than 750 housing units were rendered uninhabitable, and several hundred housing and commercial units have been partially damaged. This round of fighting displaced more than 70,000 people from their homes, though most have returned. Fifty-three schools and 11 primary health care clinics were damaged, alongside water, sewage and power lines. This comes on top of a long-term economic crisis with staggering unemployment and increasing poverty. The territory has been under a blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt for almost 14 years. Israel tightened its control over the Gaza Strip's land, sea and air after Hamas forcefully took power from the Palestinian Authority in 2007. Palestinian residents in Gaza call the blockade "collective punishment."

Importing building materials through the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel is expected to remain complicated. Israel will continue banning the entry of what it describes as dual-purpose materials — goods that could be used for reconstruction or militant purposes, such as building tunnels — into Gaza. 

After the last major war, in 2014, a special reconstruction mechanism had to be created by donor countries to help rebuild Gaza. That permitted governments that have deemed Hamas a terrorist organization to contribute to the rebuilding without dealing directly with the group that runs Gaza. 

This reconstruction effort will be "huge," said Mohamed Abu Mughaiseeb, the medical coordinator for Doctors Without Borders. The group's health clinic's sterilization unit and waiting room area were damaged in an airstrike targeting another building down the road. "But also in mental health — I think the two million people of Gaza will suffer a lot of psychological problems in the coming years," Abu Mughaiseeb said. "The fighting was so intense. The 11 days felt like 11 years."

On Al Wehda Street, the faint sound of a cat crying for help under the rubble drew the attention of residents. Mahmoud Shagalaih, who runs a small shelter for cats in Gaza, was called in. He located the feline, still trapped under the piles of rubble. "She is alive and in good health," he said, in what was a rare piece of good news on that day. "We will get her out somehow — but, even for a small cat, there is no safe place in Gaza."