85-Year-Old Gaza Refugee Returns to Destroyed Jabalia Home After 2025 Ceasefire
Updated
Updated · Al Jazeera English · May 16
85-Year-Old Gaza Refugee Returns to Destroyed Jabalia Home After 2025 Ceasefire
2 articles · Updated · Al Jazeera English · May 16
Abdel Mahdi al-Wuheidi, 85, has returned to his partially destroyed home in Jabalia after the October 2025 ceasefire allowed residents back into northern Gaza.
Born in 1940 and displaced from Bir al-Saba during the 1948 Nakba, he says the latest Gaza war destroyed the homes and land he spent decades rebuilding and left him feeling "back to zero."
During the war that began in October 2023, he and his wife were displaced repeatedly—from a UN-run school in Jabalia to Gaza City's seaport area and then Deir el-Balah—while struggling through shelling, hunger and exhaustion.
Back in Jabalia, he describes endless rubble, shattered roads and continuing Israeli military presence, saying the devastation exceeds the 1948 Nakba, the 1956 and 1967 wars, and previous Gaza conflicts he lived through.
Despite blaming Arab and international inaction and doubting conditions will improve soon, al-Wuheidi says he will not leave again, insisting he wants to die and be buried on his land.
He survived the 1948 Nakba, only to face another at 85. What does his story reveal about generational Palestinian trauma?
With Gaza's economy erased and a ceasefire failing, how can 1.9 million displaced people ever hope to rebuild their lives?
A UN peace plan is stalled by global rivalries. Is a political solution for Gaza now completely out of reach?
88% of Gaza’s Schools Damaged: The Humanitarian and Psychological Crisis in Jabalia After the 2025 Ceasefire
Overview
After the October 2025 ceasefire, displaced people returned to northern Gaza and Jabalia, only to find unprecedented devastation. The shock was immediate as they faced destroyed homes, shattered daily life, and decimated infrastructure. Essential services, especially schools, were severely impacted, with most educational facilities damaged or destroyed. This left families struggling for shelter, food, and medical care, while children faced a disrupted future. The ongoing humanitarian crisis is worsened by damaged health and sanitation systems, limited aid, and political obstacles to reconstruction. Despite these challenges, local resilience offers hope, but recovery remains uncertain without greater international support and stability.