Timeoun is unrecognizable today. Flattening has been used to flatten entire blocks. Hani Mahmoud from Al Jazeera has spoken with former residents of the neighborhood who had their homes razed to rubble.
The roof collapsed on our heads as we slept, and the pieces were all over us by midnight. We were terrified when we woke up. I donned my prayer gown and began calling my children. I gave them the names Sanad, Mahdi, Mohamed, and Ibrahim. But the dust and the rubble kept me from seeing them, Feryal Ahmed said.
Since beginning its sustained assault on Gaza City on August 6, Israel has completely destroyed more than 1, 000 structures, according to the Palestinian Civil Defense, which has claimed earlier this month.
Nearly 1 million Palestinians have been forced southward to concentration areas by Israeli tanks as Israel attempts to occupy Gaza City to its fullest extent.
The destruction is colossal. What once had color and sound is now gray, buried in dust, and silent.
Everything in Zeitoun was stunning, according to the author.
As long as I’m still breathing, I will never forget Zeitoun. It is tragic. The Israelis’ actions toward the neighborhood have caused me to feel hurt. “Everything in Zeitoun was beautiful, including the birds, the water, the greenery, the farmlands, the olive trees,” said Mahdi Awad.
Neighbours who once shared meals with each other’s homes now snooze in the open, grieving, and uncertain of the future.
For about a week now, several homes have been hit in Gaza City, particularly its Zeitoun and Sabra neighborhoods.
A deeper wound, the displacement of families, the silencing of neighborhoods, and the loss of history, lies beneath the mounds of debris and concrete.
“This neighborhood’s buildings are at the heart of the destruction, far more than just those.” Living in Gaza is almost impossible because the majority of the infrastructure, residential areas, mosques, mosques, waterways, and even pipelines and water networks have been severely damaged, according to Asem al-Nabih, a spokesperson for the municipality.
Zeitoun is the only place a young Palestinians have ever known, not just a place on the map.
“I attended there, and I was raised there. I’m one of the neighborhood’s children. I would like to be told to go back when I wake up. I still want to go back, said young Palestinian resident Mahdi Khaled, even if it has been bombed or if everything has vanished.
Despite the destruction, this yearning surpasses the fear of bombardment.
The people of Zeitoun continue to tell the story of Zeitoun, from life to death, and from rubble to longing. They believe that their home is more than just walls and a roof; it is also a sense of belonging and return.
Source: Aljazeera
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