After Israeli forces withdrew from the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Sunday, thousands of Gazans returned to find that “everything is destroyed.”
There is no life here anymore,” she told CBS News.
“Our dreams are gone and so is our childhood… I wished to go back home and study, but all is gone.”
Small towns around Khan Younis, as well as the city itself, were destroyed as the Israel Defense Forces spent weeks battling Hamas, with houses, factories and schools all reduced to rubble.
Another woman, Suha Abdelghani, sat on the rubble of her Khan Younis home, crying.
She told CBS News she had seven children and, before the war, her husband worked in Israel to feed their family.
Israel continued bombing targets in Gaza Tuesday as negotiations over a cease-fire and deal to return the remaining Israeli hostages continued in Cairo.
A spokesman for Hamas told CBS News, however, that the latest negotiations over the weekend were “set back.”
Thousands of Gazans returned to discover “everything is destroyed” following Israeli forces’ withdrawal from the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis on Sunday. “.
Malak, 13, was one of the thousands of Palestinians who returned to their homes to look through the debris in the hopes of finding any items that might have survived. She discovered nothing was left.
“Everything has been destroyed. Life no longer exists here,” she said to CBS News. We have lost our childhood and our dreams. I wanted to return home and finish my education, but everything is gone. ****.
The Israel Defense Forces fought Hamas for weeks, destroying homes, factories, and schools in the small towns surrounding Khan Younis as well as the city itself. Following the Palestinian group’s Oct. 22, Israel began its war on the Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip. 7 terror attack in Gaza, which according to Israeli officials resulted in about 1,200 fatalities and over 200 hostages.
According to the Ministry of Health, which is run by Hamas and does not differentiate between combatant and civilian deaths, over 33,000 Palestinians have died in the territory since Israel began its offensive.
Suha Abdelghani, a different woman, was sobbing as she sat on the debris of her Khan Younis house. She told CBS News that she had seven children and that her husband had been working in Israel before the war to provide for the family. They’re barely making ends meet right now, she said.
“We lost our house and my husband’s job,” Suha remarked. “With my kids, I have nowhere to go. Everything is gone, and I will never be able to rebuild my house in Gaza. ****.
As discussions over a cease-fire and agreement to release the remaining Israeli hostages proceeded in Cairo on Tuesday, Israel kept bombing targets in Gaza.
Hamas informed the AFP news agency that it was “examining” a new plan that called for a six-week ceasefire in hostilities, the exchange of 40 female and child hostages for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, and the daily entry of hundreds of aid trucks into Gaza.
But the most recent talks over the weekend were “set back,” a Hamas spokesman told CBS News. “.”.
After the war, Israel is believed to have constructed a new road that cuts through Gaza from east to west. Israel’s military has stated that it now only has one division remaining inside the Gaza Strip, and it is located along the enclave’s border with Israel to the north. According to the IDF, the soldiers it withdrew from Gaza are recovering and getting ready for more missions.
Not withstanding U. S. opposition, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Monday that his country had scheduled a ground invasion in the southern city of Rafah, which is located just south of Khan Younis and is home to about 1.5 million people. However, he did not reveal the exact date of the operation.
A full-scale military invasion of Rafah, according to State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, “would have an enormously harmful effect on those civilians and that it would hurt Israel’s security,” as he stated in a statement to Israel on Monday.
Vice President Kamala Harris was expected to meet in the U.S. on Tuesday. s. alongside the relatives of American hostages kidnapped in Gaza on October 10 by Hamas or other organizations. 7.
This story was assisted by Holly Williams of CBS News.
