Gaza City – December 23, 2025 – Amid the widespread devastation in Gaza, the Halawa family’s building stands as a stark, improbable survivor. Two stories remain above the rubble,a testament to endurance after two years of relentless Israeli air attacks that have reduced much of the besieged Palestinian enclave to ruins.
A Fragile Existence Amidst Gaza’s Ruins
More than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict, with most of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents displaced.
- Israel’s war on Gaza has resulted in over 70,000 Palestinian deaths and widespread destruction.
- A ceasefire agreement reached in October has been repeatedly violated, with over 400 Palestinians killed as.
- Reconstruction efforts are stalled due to Israeli control over access to the enclave.
- Families are choosing to live in damaged homes rather than overcrowded tent shelters.
What is the current situation for residents in Gaza? Despite a ceasefire agreement, ongoing Israeli attacks and restricted aid access have left the majority of Gaza’s population displaced and struggling to survive amidst widespread destruction.
Thay returned during the brief respite offered by the ceasefire. Like many others,they found that living in their damaged home was preferable to the overcrowded and increasingly flooded tent shelters that have sprung up across the territory,notably as winter rains intensified in recent weeks.
Inside a damaged room, Amani Halawa brewed coffee over a small fire, thin beams of light filtering through the fractured concrete. Amani, her husband Mohammed, and their children have worked tirelessly to make their home habitable, a small act of defiance against the surrounding devastation.
The walls of their home are adorned with a painted tree and messages to family members who have been separated by the conflict-a poignant reminder of the human cost of the war.
Throughout Gaza City, life persists within damaged apartments, even as families lie awake at night, fearing the collapse of their walls. Health officials reported at least 11 deaths in December resulting from building collapses in a single week, underscoring the constant danger.
In another home, Sahar Taroush swept dust from carpets laid over rubble. Her daughter, Bisan, watched a movie on a computer screen, the light illuminating her face amidst gaping holes in the wall. A small pocket of normalcy in a landscape of chaos.
On a cracked wall of another building, a family displayed a faded photograph of their grandfather on horseback, a relic from his service in the Palestinian Authority’s security forces during the 1990s. Nearby, a man reclined on a bed precariously balanced on a damaged balcony, scrolling through his phone, overlooking the devastated al-Karama neighborhood.
These scenes, repeated across Gaza City, paint a picture of a population determined to endure, to rebuild, and to reclaim a semblance of life amidst the ruins.
