As soon as the Gaza ceasefire was finalized last month, Emad Shomar headed north to find the home he hadn’t seen in 15 months. He found himself in a bewildering moonscape of ruination, his house bulldozed.
The 55 year-old considered pitching a tent, but unexploded military devices gave him pause. He had neither the expertise nor the machinery required to create a habitable environment. Even the act of building a washroom next to a tent seemed insurmountable; cement was unavailable. Reality sank in. Shomar returned to his family’s makeshift shelter in central Gaza.
Displaced Palestinians pass destroyed buildings as they return to the northern Gaza Strip on Jan. 28.
Photographer: Ahmad Salem/Bloomberg
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