A Palestinian researcher from Gaza, specializing in English literature and translation. Despite war, displacement, and the destruction of her university, she continues her academic journey under siege, refusing to let her voice or her dreams be silenced. X: @GhadaRozzi
For hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the simple idea of "home" has become a fragment of memory. Over two years of intense conflict between Israel and Hamas have reduced entire neighborhoods to rubble, uprooting families and thrusting them into a precarious existence in makeshift camps across the territory. As Israel continues to violate the so-called "ceasefire" at will and without consequence after driving this destruction, especially amid the Israeli and U.S. war with Iran, the question of basic human dignity remains unresolved and continues to worsen as Palestinians in Gaza suffer under the intentional weight of deprivation and political stagnation.
According to international aid agencies, an overwhelming majority of residential buildings in Gaza were damaged or destroyed since Oct. 7, 2023. Reports from international humanitarian organizations estimate that over 90% of housing units suffered damage ranging from partial impairment to complete destruction. To date, even minimal reconstruction efforts — let alone rubble removal or an influx of temporary housing — remain largely nonexistent. Israel closed all crossings into Gaza as it started its war with Iran on Feb. 28, although it claims to be slowly reopening them.
The result has been an ongoing and massive displacement crisis. Recent estimates suggest that around 1.5 million people — roughly three-quarters of Gaza's population — have been forced from their homes. Many have been forcibly displaced by the fighting or subsequent agreements between Israel and Hamas numerous times. They now live in temporary shelters, tents or crowded collective centers, especially amid Israel's ongoing efforts to block basic shelter items and broader humanitarian goods from entering the Strip and as it gradually impedes on more and more of Gaza's territory.
In these conditions, everyday survival becomes an ordeal.
- Ghada al-Rozzi
In these conditions, everyday survival becomes an ordeal. Mothers cook over improvised stoves under nylon sheets. Fathers queue for water at distant distribution points. Children attempt to study on dim phone screens. What little shelter exists offers no protection from Gaza's scorching summer heat or its winter rain.
Humanitarian workers stress that many families need not only food and medicine, but adequate shelter amid this crisis. Basic tent structures cannot withstand harsh weather, and there is an urgent requirement for temporary housing units — prefabricated caravans that provide solid walls and roofs. While international organizations and local authorities have repeatedly called for expanded access to such structures, the flow of supplies into Gaza remains restricted.
This limited access to the Strip has slowed the delivery of vital supplies into Gaza, forcing humanitarian convoys to wait weeks before entering the territory. In some cases, aid deliveries — including tents and mobile homes — have been held up or delayed, exacerbating the already acute shelter crisis for displaced families. International aid agencies and relief coordinators, including the International Rescue Committee, have warned that such disruptions severely impede their ability to provide life-saving assistance. That issue should have been addressed by the agreement reached in October 2025 between Hamas and Israel, but the latter continues to block significant levels of aid.
Beyond the immediate crisis of shelter lies a deeper question of reconstruction and sustainable recovery. Despite repeated calls by the United Nations, humanitarian agencies and development bodies for a comprehensive reconstruction plan, no clear timeline or binding international framework has yet been announced. Only U.S. President Donald Trump's grandiose and unrealistic Board of Peace offers even a semblance of a plan being operationalized in Gaza — not necessarily promising.
For ordinary Palestinians in Gaza, that absence of clarity translates into prolonged uncertainty.
- Ghada al-Rozzi
For ordinary Palestinians in Gaza, that absence of clarity translates into prolonged uncertainty. In camp after camp, people speak less of geopolitics and more about daily necessities, including extra blankets, elusive medical supplies or shelter that will not leak when it rains and floods. Behind these conversations, however, lies a fundamental question: How long must an entire community wait in limbo for its basic rights to be restored?
Any meaningful reconstruction effort is inseparable from the political reality that Israel still controls Gaza's airspace, maritime access and most land crossings. The entry of reconstruction materials, fuel and prefabricated housing units is subject to Israel's approval, a system Israeli authorities describe as necessary for security, but which humanitarian groups say has long constrained reconstruction and humanitarian access. Previous rounds of reconstruction following earlier Israeli military campaigns against Gaza were slowed or halted by restrictions on so-called "dual-use" materials such as cement and steel. During the current genocide, aid officials warn that without sustained and significantly expanded access, large-scale rebuilding will remain impossible, leaving Palestinians in Gaza dependent on temporary shelter with no clear path home.
Reconstruction is not merely an engineering challenge. It is a matter of human dignity; of restoring a sense of normalcy, security and hope. Each day that passes without accessible housing or a credible pathway to Gaza's reconstruction is another day that families remain exposed to the elements of instability. Israel's use of its war with Iran to further prevent aid and reconstruction is unacceptable.
The issue is ultimately political as well as humanitarian. International actors and national governments must move beyond expressions of sympathy and toward concrete commitments to deliver shelter, restore infrastructure and ensure that Palestinians in Gaza can return to lives that extend beyond the shadow of war.
Until then, thousands of families will remain under frayed canvases, pinned between the rubble of their past and an uncertain future, waiting for something that resembles both justice and a home. Prolonging that reality is unacceptable.
The views and positions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of DAWN.
