{"id":3430,"date":"2025-10-24T14:36:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T14:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/10\/24\/returning-to-gaza-city-a-family-finds-bulldozed-graves-and-little-hope\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T14:36:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T14:36:14","slug":"returning-to-gaza-city-a-family-finds-bulldozed-graves-and-little-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/10\/24\/returning-to-gaza-city-a-family-finds-bulldozed-graves-and-little-hope\/","title":{"rendered":"Returning to Gaza City, a family finds bulldozed graves and little hope"},"content":{"rendered":"<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p><strong>Gaza City \u2013<\/strong> Hiba al-Yazji and her husband Mohammad have been through hell and back in the past two years. They have lost dozens of family members \u2013 killed in Israeli attacks. Their homes are gone. They\u2019ve been forced into <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/gallery\/2025\/9\/17\/mass-displacement-in-gaza-as-israeli-ground-invasion-intensifies\">displacement<\/a> multiple times. And now they\u2019re waiting, not sure what the future will bring them and their 10-year-old daughter, Iman.<\/p>\n<p>The family arrived back in northern Gaza last Saturday, a few days after the Gaza ceasefire began, but just a day before Israeli attacks threatened to collapse the deal.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 3 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/10\/24\/can-israel-annex-the-west-bank-if-the-us-says-no\">Can Israel annex the West Bank if the US says no?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/10\/24\/ireland-voting-for-new-president-in-hotly-contested-election\">Ireland picks new president, polls indicate win for pro-Palestine candidate<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/10\/24\/dutch-voters-hit-polls-as-immigration-fears-propel-far-right-towards-power\">Dutch voters hit polls as immigration fears propel far right towards power<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Hiba says she was sorting through her scattered belongings beside her tent when she heard explosions in the distance, and wondered whether the war had returned. That would likely force the family back south, repeating a journey they have taken again and again during the war.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe honestly don\u2019t understand anything any more,\u201d Hiba told Al Jazeera days later, as she pulled up a chair and sat atop the mound of sand where her family\u2019s tent was pitched.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4056242\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4056242\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/873A2541-copy-1761255563.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C513&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"A woman sorts through her belongings next to a tent\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4056242\">Hiba and Mohammad al-Yazji have been displaced several times during the war, and are now living in a tent in Gaza City [Abdelhakim Abu Riash\/Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"family-killed\">Family killed<\/h2>\n<p>So far, the ceasefire has largely held since the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/liveblog\/2025\/10\/19\/live-israel-continues-deadly-attacks-on-gaza-closes-rafah-crossing\">heavy outbreak of violence<\/a> last Sunday, when Israel killed at least 42 people.<\/p>\n<p>But Hiba and Mohammad have suffered so much over the past two years that their uncertainty over the future is understandable.<\/p>\n<p>The couple had stayed in northern Gaza when the war started. But less than two months into it, that decision cost them dearly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI lost my entire family: my father, my mother, all my siblings. My husband, who is also my cousin, lost his entire family too,\u201d she said, tears filling her eyes as Mohammad sat beside her in silence, his own eyes red.<\/p>\n<p>On December 3, 2023, their four-storey family home in Gaza City\u2019s Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, which also sheltered several relatives displaced from other areas, was bombed.<\/p>\n<p>Hiba, Mohammad, their daughter Iman and Hiba\u2019s younger brother were the only survivors, pulled from beneath the rubble with minor injuries.<\/p>\n<p>The strike killed 60 members of their extended family.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlmost my entire family was wiped out: my mother, father, my six siblings, their spouses, and their children. My wife\u2019s family, too \u2013 her parents, siblings and their children. My uncles and their families were all killed,\u201d Mohammad said.<\/p>\n<p>In total, Mohammad lost 36 relatives, including his parents, six siblings and their children and wives.<\/p>\n<p>Hiba lost her parents, four siblings and two nieces in the same strike.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4056248\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4056248\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/873A2504-copy-1761255717.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C513&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"A man holds up a phone displaying a collage of family members\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4056248\">Mohammad al-Yazji shows pictures of some of his family members killed by Israel [Abdelhakim Abu Riash\/Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"trapped-with-a-dead-brother\">Trapped with a dead brother<\/h2>\n<p>To compound matters, Hiba\u2019s younger brother, who survived the initial attack, was killed a month later in particularly harrowing circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>Israeli tanks advanced near the home of a relative that Hiba and Mohammad had moved into after the first attack.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe ran \u2013 me, my husband, my daughter and my brother \u2013 to a nearby house and hid in the basement. At that moment, the tanks were firing at anyone who moved. My brother was shot directly in the back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hiba broke down in tears as she continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe dragged my injured brother to the ground floor so the tanks wouldn\u2019t see us, or we\u2019d all be killed. For four whole days, my brother bled to death in front of me. I couldn\u2019t cry, scream or move. I couldn\u2019t call for help because the tanks surrounded us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her voice trembled as she added, \u201cHis body stayed with us, beside us, for four more days while we were trapped.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo water, no food, nothing. But fear controlled us so completely that we couldn\u2019t think of anything else. We were just waiting to die at any moment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When the tanks finally withdrew, the family left their hiding place and buried her brother\u2019s body nearby.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter all this, do you think we still want to live?\u201d Hiba asked, her tears flowing freely.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4056254\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4056254\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/873A2500-copy-1761255895.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C513&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"A man holds up a phone \" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4056254\">Mohammad al-Yazji says all of his family\u2019s homes have been destroyed, as well as their wedding hall business [Abdelhakim Abu Riash\/Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"bulldozed-graves\">Bulldozed graves<\/h2>\n<p>To an outsider, the losses Hiba and Mohammad have suffered are almost incomprehensible. Even with the war declared over, it is not something they can simply move on from.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wanted to die,\u201d she said. \u201cMy husband and I are like branches cut off from a tree. We live with unbearable pain. I wished a strike had taken us too. Surviving feels like a punishment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In September, the couple left Gaza City to go south, as Israeli tanks approached. But they found life there in the displacement camps, away from everything they knew, to be unbearable.<\/p>\n<p>And with the Israeli advance on Gaza City called off as a result of the ceasefire, they decided to return.<\/p>\n<p>But nothing prepared them for what they would find.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll our family homes were destroyed, even the house we recently moved into, my wife\u2019s family\u2019s home, was gone. Our cars, our wedding hall business, all flattened,\u201d said Mohammad, whose family was known for real estate in Gaza.<\/p>\n<p>The couple\u2019s greatest shock came when they discovered that the graves of their relatives, buried near their home, had been bulldozed and their remains scattered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cImagine spending the whole night collecting the remains of our loved ones, those we buried with our own hands,\u201d Hiba said, pointing to a levelled patch of sand.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHere lie my family and some of my husband\u2019s. I keep warning people who pass by not to step over them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her tears welled again. \u201cThis reopened a wound that never healed. My heart was torn apart during the war. I have no nerves left, no life. I pulled my parents out from under the rubble. My mother was without a head. My little nephew\u2019s body was in pieces.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy husband still hasn\u2019t been able to recover the rest of his family\u2019s bodies. Their remains are still under that rubble,\u201d she said, pointing toward a nearby collapsed building where their last tent now stands.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4056258\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4056258\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/873A2154-copy-1761256016.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C513&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"A man walks with rubble and a Palestinian flag in the background\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4056258\">Many areas of Gaza City have been reduced to rubble as a result of Israeli attacks [Abdelhakim Abu Riash\/Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"what-comes-next\">What comes next?<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re just bodies without souls now,\u201d Mohammad said quietly. \u201cIf I stay alive, I\u2019ll leave Gaza the moment the crossings open. There\u2019s no life here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo water, no electricity, no services, just destruction everywhere. Ruin beyond what the mind can imagine. How are we supposed to live?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven this so-called ceasefire they talk about, it\u2019s fragile and meaningless. Israel violates it every moment,\u201d Mohammad said.<\/p>\n<p>Hiba nodded in agreement. She said her only hope now is for a better future for her daughter, her last surviving family.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy daughter hasn\u2019t had schooling for three years. She\u2019s lived through horrors, pulled from under the rubble, displaced again and again, watched her uncle die in front of her. How will her mind recover? What future does she have here?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s seen enough. I just want her to live a better life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When asked if they feared the war might return, Mohammad gave a bitter laugh.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis time I won\u2019t move. If it comes back, I\u2019ll really die here. There\u2019s no life or future left anyway. The war never really ended, and even if it did, I\u2019d rather die with my family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hiba and Mohammad often sit together, mourning their fate, unable to comprehend why all this happened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI keep asking my husband if we had started this war ourselves, would we deserve such punishment?\u201d she said. \u201cWhat did we ever do to deserve all this?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gaza City \u2013 Hiba al-Yazji and her husband Mohammad have been through hell and back in the past two years. They have lost dozens of family members \u2013 killed in Israeli attacks. Their homes are gone. They\u2019ve been forced into displacement multiple times. And now they\u2019re waiting, not sure what the future will bring them &#8230; <a title=\"Returning to Gaza City, a family finds bulldozed graves and little hope\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/10\/24\/returning-to-gaza-city-a-family-finds-bulldozed-graves-and-little-hope\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Returning to Gaza City, a family finds bulldozed graves and little hope\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}