“Earthquake-like destruction”: Palestinians return to Nuseirat after the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the central Gaza area
Palestinians inspect damage to a building in the city of Nuseirat in central Gaza on April 18. (AFP/Getty Images)
Dozens of Palestinians visited the Nuwaisrat neighborhood in the central Gaza Strip last week after the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area.
CNN images show the destroyed interiors of bombed buildings, while men and children stood on huge piles of rubble. A Palestinian boy was also seen sitting on a white sofa surrounded by pink pillows, old blankets and upturned concrete slabs in the Nuseirat refugee camp. Gazans say they were desperately trying to rescue valuables from homes destroyed by Israeli attacks, as they scanned the area in terror.
“On the second day of Eid, rockets started falling on us,” Abu Muhammad Faraj Allah, a displaced resident, told CNN on April 18. “We returned a week later to the homes and buildings that were attacked, (but) there was no place to stay,” he added.
Palestinians living in the Nuseirat refugee camp collect usable materials from the rubble of destroyed buildings after Israel withdrew from the northern Nuseirat camp in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, April 18. (Ashraf Amra/Anadolu/Getty Images)
Earlier this month, the Israeli army withdrew from Nuseirat, leaving behind piles of rubble, damaging residential buildings and destroying water, sanitation and waste collection services, Palestinian officials told CNN. Mahmoud Basal, spokesman for the Civil Defense in Gaza, said that the Israeli attacks on the neighborhood left at least 500 dead, wounded and missing. CNN was unable to verify this estimate and has contacted the Israeli military about the scope and purpose of its attacks in Nuseirat.
Hassan Al-Habash, another resident, likened the destruction to an “earthquake.”
Hassan Al-Habbash, a doctor, told CNN that he returned to Nuseirat, central Gaza, on April 18 to find his house “demolished.” (CNN)
The doctor, who was wearing glasses and had a soft white beard, added: “We have never seen such destruction in history.” “I came back and found my house destroyed.”
“This devastation reflects hatred and anger,” one woman said, digging through a pile of stuffed dolls and other belongings covered in dust. “These are the remains of memories, of what remains of our lives.”
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