For Khamis and Ahmad Imarah, returning to their home in northern Gaza was never going to be easy. They knew it would be a heartbreaking sight, but they had to go. Their father and brother are still buried beneath the rubble, more than a year after Israeli forces struck their home.

Walking through the Al-Shujaiya neighborhood, Khamis described the scene as “utter devastation.” “My heart was ripped apart,” he said. “The only thing that brought me back was my father and brother.”

The brothers made an 11-kilometer journey with small children to reach their home, only to find it nearly destroyed. Amid the wreckage, Khamis found his mother’s knitting bag, a painful reminder of her. “She was a storyteller, an entertainer,” he said. “God be with you, Mother.”

Their story is just one of many. Over 500,000 displaced Palestinians have returned to the north in the past few days, according to local authorities. But what they’ve found is a landscape of destruction: homes reduced to rubble, roads blocked by debris, and no basic necessities like water or electricity.

Many are sleeping in the ruins of their former homes. Mohammad Salha, a hospital director in the area, stressed the urgent need for humanitarian aid. “There are no camps for displaced residents to stay in,” he said. “Northern Gaza desperately needs shelter, water, and support.”

For some, the journey back has been too much to bear. Arwa Al-Masri, displaced from Beit Hanoun, shared that her family found only “massive destruction and lifelessness” upon their return. “There is no life there,” she said.

Despite the devastation, Khamis remains determined to stay. “I am from Gaza, and I won’t leave,” he said. “Even if it’s harder than this, I want to live here. I will only leave Gaza to go to Heaven.”

The situation is dire, but for families like the Imarahs, staying in Gaza is about more than survival—it’s about reclaiming their land and honoring their ancestors. “This is ingrained in our minds,” Khamis said. “We will not leave this place.”