After seven months of war — months of fear, destruction, and constant displacement from one place to another within Gaza — there was no safe place left. Shelters were overcrowded, homes were reduced to ruins, and death followed us everywhere.
Each time we moved, we left behind a part of our lives: a memory, a toy, a corner of safety that no longer existed. When there was nowhere else to go, I was forced to leave Gaza with my two children and flee to Egypt, carrying the key to our home in my small bag — a symbol of hope that one day we would return. Every night, I told my children stories about our home: their favorite toys, their small room, the lemon tree in the yard, and the laughter that once filled our walls.
When the ceasefire was announced, we thought we might finally see our dream come true. But when the Israeli forces withdrew from our neighborhood, the images that reached us shattered everything. Our home was gone — destroyed. Not only our house, but the entire neighborhood was wiped out.
In that moment, I realized I was reliving my grandfather’s story. He had been displaced from the city of Al-Majdal (now in occupied Palestine) in 1948, carrying his house key with him until his death, dreaming of returning. And here I am, over seventy years later, holding another key to another house — destroyed.
For a moment, hope faded away.
When I looked through the photos, searching for a wall, a window, anything to show that this was once our home — even the traces were gone.We are not asking for much — only for the most basic human right: the right to a safe home. This has become a distant dream in Gaza. What did the children of Gaza do to deserve a life without shelter and without safety?
I have nowhere to go but to Gaza, though I have nowhere to return to.
Still, I carry the key — the key to a destroyed house, yes, but also to a right that no one can take away. Because the right to housing does not cease to exist beneath the rubble.This is not my story alone. It is the story of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian families in Gaza — now homeless, carrying the same pain and the same denied right: a home to call their own.
This testimony was shared by Asma, a member of HIC from Gaza. After months of war, destruction, and displacement, Asma recently received images showing what remains of her home and neighborhood. Her words reflect not only her personal loss, but the shared reality of thousands of Palestinian families facing the same struggle and the same denied right — a safe place to call home
Let us continue to show solidarity with Palestine and reaffirm that the people of Gaza deserve what every human being deserves — a safe and dignified place to live, rest, and rebuild.
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