On his key chain, Hassan Nofal keeps the keys to two homes. One is the house of his grandparents in what's now southern Israel, which his family was driven out of by Israeli forces in 1948 and to which they've never been able to return.The other is to Nofal's house in northern Gaza, which he had to flee last year after Israel launched its offensives in the territory. Over the nearly nine months since, Nofal and his family have been uprooted four times, driven back and forth across the Gaza Strip to escape the onslaught, per the AP. Nofal said he's determined to make sure his key doesn't become a keepsake like his grandparents'. "If my house key becomes just a memory with me moving forward, then I don't want to live anymore," he said. "I must return to my house ... I want to stay in Gaza and settle in Gaza with my children in our house."
Israel has said Palestinians will eventually be allowed to go back to their homes, but it isn't clear when. Many homes have been destroyed or heavily damaged. Israel's assault in Gaza has driven some 1.9 million of the territory's prewar population of 2.3 million Palestinians from their homes. Most have been uprooted repeatedly since then, fleeing over and over across the length of the strip to escape a series of ground offensives. Each time has meant a wrenching move to a new location and a series of crowded, temporary shelters—whether at the homes of extended family, UN schools, or tent camps. Along the way, families have struggled to stay together and keep a few possessions. In each new site, they must find new sources of food, water, and medical treatment.
Nearly all of Gaza's population is now crammed into an Israeli-declared "humanitarian safe zone" covering about 23 square miles on the Mediterranean coast, centered on a barren area called Muwasi. Despite its name, Israel has carried out deadly airstrikes in the "safe zone." Conditions are squalid, in camps of ramshackle tents—mostly plastic sheeting and blankets propped up on sticks, with no sanitation systems and little access to drinkable water. Ola Nassar, whose family has been displaced seven times, also holds onto the keys to her home in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya. For her, they symbolize "safety, stability, freedom." She adds: "It's like my identity." More here.
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