Drone Footage Lays Bare Gaza City's Ruin as Families Return to Rubble During Ceasefire

The Abu Dalfa family stood in the middle of Sheikh Radwan, a part of Gaza City that was once crowded with apartment blocks and families. A week into the ceasefire, they had come back to find dust and ruins. The homes, the green spaces and the neighbourhood pool were barely recognisable after months of Israeli missiles and shells.

The family had fled south when Israeli troops moved into Gaza City, which Israel calls Hamas's main stronghold. They were among hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who left as the Israel Defense Forces launched a major offensive there. Now, back at what remains of their home, they have nowhere else to go. Father Hamdi Abu Dalfa told the ABC there are no shelters. He said they had been promised tents and many other things, and received nothing. "So where will we go?" he asked.

Two of Hamdi's sons were killed by Israeli bombs during the war. He is digging through the rubble with his bare hands, trying to recover what he can. He said it is better than sitting in places where he cannot live.

His wife Samar is pulling blankets and pillows from beneath layers of concrete, and she is searching especially for anything that belonged to her sons. She said she longs to find her son's blanket because it still carries his smell. She named Ahmad and Mustafa as she spoke of the memories the house has stirred. Whenever the family finds something of theirs, she asks to hold it, and she has kept even their certificates. "My life was beautiful, thank God," she said. "I wasn't lacking anything and my children were around me and my husband."

Their 10-year-old daughter Yusra is sifting through the wreckage too. She was looking for her books and pencils, and said it has been two years since she went to school. She is watching her parents try to build a shelter inside the collapsed building. Her father says ordinary tents are too weak to withstand wind and rain, so the plan is to make a sturdier one where the family can sit and be stable.

Their experience sits within a far larger picture. The United Nations says Gaza holds tens of millions of tonnes of rubble, much of it contaminated by unexploded ordnance and asbestos. Thousands of bodies remain unrecovered beneath it. The UN's Satellite Centre, in an analysis running to September 6, found that two-thirds of Gaza's buildings were destroyed or damaged. That is 163,778 structures: 52,564 destroyed, 18,913 severely damaged, 35,591 possibly damaged and 56,710 moderately affected.

The Gaza governorate was the most affected region, with 46,370 structures impacted. In Gaza City, 36,611 structures were damaged, of which 8,578 were totally destroyed. Those figures predate about another month of heavy Israeli bombing of the city, so the real toll there is higher. Israeli fire also wrecked much of Gaza's critical infrastructure, including electricity, water and sanitation.

Winter is now approaching, bringing rain and cold that will turn Gaza's dust to mud. Families like the Abu Dalfas will likely spend those months in the ruins.