‘Even the land for the useless is now the one refuge for the dwelling,’ one Gaza resident says.
Printed On 23 Oct 2025
Tens of hundreds of displaced Palestinians who lack shelter or a house to return to after Israel destroyed their residences throughout Gaza are pitching tents in graveyards as a final resort, because the humanitarian disaster within the enclave stays acute regardless of a fragile ceasefire deal.
“This graveyard wasn’t meant for the dwelling,” Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary mentioned, reporting from the southern metropolis of Khan Younis. “However immediately, it’s house to dozens of households who’ve nowhere else to go.”
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Khoudary mentioned Palestinians have been tenting on the website “not as a result of they need to, however as a result of it’s the final free house obtainable”.
“Graveyards have turn out to be shelters not out of alternative, however out of desperation,” she added.
Rami Musleh, a father of 12 who was displaced from the northern Gaza city of Beit Hanoon, couldn’t discover any viable choice apart from the graveyard.
“For folks, the emotional toll is heavy. The psychological trauma of battle is made worse by having to lift youngsters amongst tombstones,” Musleh informed Al Jazeera.
One other resident, Sabah Muhammed, mentioned the cemeteries have now misplaced all their sacredness.
“Graveyards, as soon as sacred areas for the useless, are actually silent witnesses to a dwelling disaster. No water, no electrical energy, and no privateness … solely the naked minimal to outlive,” she informed Al Jazeera.
“In Gaza, even the land for the useless is now the one refuge for the dwelling.”
In line with the United Nations, no less than 1.9 million individuals – or about 90 p.c of the inhabitants – throughout the Gaza Strip have been displaced in the course of the battle. Many have been displaced repeatedly, some 10 occasions or extra.
Palestinians in southern Gaza are squeezed into overcrowded shelters as Israel issued pressured orders for residents of northern Gaza and Gaza Metropolis to evacuate after which bombarded many as they fled south.
The worth of renting even a sq. metre of land to pitch a tent is prohibitive for a lot of displaced Palestinians, who lack a steady revenue and are depending on scarce humanitarian help.
UNRWA, the UN company for Palestinians, mentioned 61 million tonnes of particles now cowl Gaza and whole neighbourhoods have been erased. It mentioned households have been looking out the ruins for shelter and water.
Whereas a fragile ceasefire has been in impact since October 10, Israel is constant to closely prohibit humanitarian help into Gaza. The Worldwide Court docket of Justice on Wednesday dominated Israel should enable help into Gaza, stating it can not use hunger “as a technique of warfare”.
Help is especially being channelled into the central and southern elements of the Gaza Strip by way of the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing, whereas not one of the crossings within the north have been opened.
