New year dawns amid rubble and resolve in Gaza

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians remain uprooted, many living in makeshift tents pitched on bare ground or squeezed into damaged buildings without reliable access to water, electricity, healthcare or sanitation.

Winter rains have compounded the hardship, flooding shelters and turning camp pathways into heavy mud.

Fragile hope

Yet, amid the destruction, displaced families say the arrival of a new year has stirred fragile hopes for stability, safety and a chance to rebuild lives interrupted by conflict.

Standing in front of her tent, Umm Rabee’ Al-Malash appealed for more international engagement.

“The Palestinian people must be supported, as they have endured immense suffering,” she told our correspondent. “Help us rebuild the Gaza Strip, bring about peace, and allow us to have a State where we can live in peace and security.”

Falling behind

For parents, the toll on children is among the deepest scars of the war. Schools across Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, while thousands of young people have missed out on months of learning.

Wafaa Al-Khawaja voiced her fears for the next generation. “I wish that, just as the rest of the world lives, we could live the same way. 

“Our children today have no education or anything else,” she said, describing days consumed by the struggle to find food, water and warmth.

In northern Gaza, displacement has cut off families from homes and livelihoods built over decades. 

Turn back the clock

Kamal Abu Hsheish, originally from the Jabalia camp, said his only wish is to return to the life he knew before the war. For now, daily reality inside the camps continues to impose severe humanitarian conditions on thousands of families.

Aid agencies warn that relief efforts face mounting challenges, including damaged infrastructure, restricted access and the sheer scale of need. 

Our children today have no education or anything else

Reconstruction, they say, will require sustained international commitment once conditions allow if the Gaza peace deal can advance to the next stage.

As Gaza’s displaced population marks the start of another year – with no return to their old life in sight – hopes remain bound to an end to violence and meaningful political progress on the 20-point plan which established the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in early October. 

Until then, families wait, enduring loss and uncertainty, while clinging to the belief that the coming months may finally bring safety, dignity and the possibility of going home to rebuild.