A month ago, when Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza, Mona Alharazine could not hold back tears. The only thing he could think about was his son Yazan, who, he said, died at age 17 in an air raid in the first month of the war.
In a telephone conversation with the BBC, he recalled that the first thing he did was return to the northern Gaza Strip, where he had spent most of his life. He fled airstrikes and shelling weeks before the ceasefire took effect in October.
It wasn’t Mona’s first time making that trip. He had already walked from south to north in January 2025, when the last ceasefire between Hamas and Israel was in force.
He says he brought Yazan’s body out of the rubble where it had been trapped for nearly a year, and begins to cry as he explains that he wanted to “give it a proper burial.”
At that time, he got into the car. The journey, which would have taken 30 minutes before the war, took about three hours, navigating heavily damaged roads and traffic jams caused by the large number of people heading back north.
As the vehicle crossed a valley overlooking Gaza City, Mona said she was horrified by the panorama.
“There was nothing but empty space as far as the eye could see. It was a terrifying sight. The ground was covered with rubble, and it looked like the whole building had been swallowed up by the ground.”
He explains that the city’s skyline has changed, with apartment blocks and 13-story buildings gone. “I felt lonely and horrible. I can’t describe the feeling. I just felt like crying,” she said.
He already knew that his home in Gaza City, where he had lived for 20 years, would be destroyed in 2024.
Despite this, Mona wants to stay here because this is her home. I found a three-bedroom apartment for rent a 10-minute drive away.
According to Mona, this is one of the few apartments in the city that can be rented, and the prices are high. The only way she can afford it is to share it with her mother, two sisters, and their families, but she doesn’t know how long they will be able to afford it.
Mona has not received any aid or food, and while some is already available, she says the prices are “exorbitant.”
He explains that before the war, a kilo of bananas cost about 3 shekels (about $0.90). The current price is about 20 shekels ($6). A bag of pita bread cost between 7 and 8 shekels ($2.50). Current price is around 60 (18 USD).
He points out that some items, such as eggs, are still not available, and notes how many families are still cooking over open fires because gas is not available.
He says people start fires in large metal cylinders on balconies, unused bathrooms or near windows to boil water and warm food.
“We don’t have any furniture, so we sit on the floor with blankets and cushions,” he added.
Mona explains that Gazans still do not feel safe or secure and have little confidence in the stability of the ceasefire. “We still hear gunshots, rockets and bombings,” he says. “It’s very scary.”
But Mona admits she can sleep a little easier knowing her two other children, Mohammad, 16, and Bashar, 12, are relatively safe thanks to the ceasefire.
His prospects are bleak. “We have no future…Gaza is gone,” he says.
“I wish I could go home, take a shower in the bathroom, even just for a day, sleep in bed, comb my hair in the mirror, put on clean clothes, and put on some perfume. I long for the simpler things I used to do, but I can’t do them anymore.”
Most of the people we spoke to said it was difficult to think about rebuilding their lives, but some, like 26-year-old Jumana, can still see a glimpse of their old lives.
His house is one of the few remaining in Gaza City. His apartment “thankfully didn’t suffer any major damage,” he said by phone. “The window is only broken, and the kitchen is a little damaged.”
The independent journalist currently lives with her two daughters and her husband, who also does the same job. Her eldest daughter, Turin, 6, wants to return to school and is taking private lessons for the first time since the war began.
Another daughter, 2-year-old Talia, was born less than a week after the October 7 Hamas-led attack in southern Israel that killed around 1,200 people and took another 251 hostages.
Turin was also born in October, and the family was hoping this year they would finally be able to throw a big celebration for their two girls.
But Jumana points out that the plan fell apart when the family was killed in an Israeli airstrike in late October, when Hamas and Israel accused each other of violating the ceasefire.
According to the Strip Health Ministry, he is one of 68,000 deaths recorded in Gaza during the war, a figure recognized by the United Nations and other international organizations.
The Israeli military claimed to have attacked dozens of “terrorist” targets following Hamas’ violation of a US-brokered ceasefire agreement. Israel’s defense minister has accused Hamas of an attack in the Gaza Strip that killed an Israeli soldier and of violating conditions regarding the handover of the bodies of dead hostages. Hamas said it had “nothing to do with” the attack and that Israel was trying to undermine the ceasefire agreement.
Jumana took this as a reminder that life is still far from normal. “With or without war, this has become the sad reality of our lives,” he says bitterly.
However, she and her husband took their daughters out for a walk around the city. He shared a video of two girls walking through the rubble.
Afterwards, they went to a restaurant for lunch. “We gave them pizza, shawarma and Coca-Cola. It was like a dream for them because they had been deprived of all that for so long,” Jumana says.
He also shared photos of the food he was able to purchase, including meat kebabs, whole chickens, ice cream, fruit and lamb. She took her daughters to the supermarket and sent photos showing the shelves full of candy, chips, and coffee, but some in the background appeared empty.
“The only time the shelves will be full is when the (Israeli) military allows products into supermarkets,” he says. “Not everything is available. If border crossings stopped for just two days, shelves would be empty very quickly.”
Jumana said her family is able to pay for food and other necessities because both of them work. However, most people in Gaza are unemployed and banks are not open. He explained that some people save in cash, and while transferring money to a bank account makes it easier, there is usually a 25% fee.
Jumana also shared videos and photos of her daughters swimming and playing on the beach. In the background you can see badly damaged buildings, one of which has shattered walls and windows in an apartment, but the family living there can be seen.
The images confirm the reality of life in Gaza. “There is no future for us and the girls in Gaza. We are trying to get used to it, but it is not normal,” Jumana said.
“Unfortunately, we are planning our future outside of Gaza.”
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