Displaced Gazans greet new year with hope

Displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis entered the new year with cautious hopes for peace, safety and a chance to return home after enduring severe hardship. Families living in overcrowded shelters and makeshift tents said the prior year was the hardest they had known, and their modest wishes focused on an end to fighting, steady access to food, clean water and medical care, and the ability to rebuild disrupted lives.

An October ceasefire, reached after two years of intense Israeli bombardment and military operations that followed a deadly October 2023 attack by Hamas-led fighters, has eased but not ended violence. Both sides continue to accuse each other of violations. Gaza’s health ministry reports that more enormous than 400 people in the territory have been killed since the truce, while Israel says three soldiers have been killed in militant attacks.

Humanitarian agencies warn that aid deliveries remain irregular and insufficient, with winter rains worsening conditions in camps crowded with displaced people from northern and central Gaza. Parents voiced deep concern for their children’s health and schooling; older residents described exhaustion after repeated displacement. Many families depend on intermittent assistance and face growing risks from poor shelter, limited sanitation and strained medical services.

Residents said immediate priorities include reopening crossings to allow reliable flows of aid and goods, restoring basic services, and creating conditions for children to return to school and adults to resume work. Local officials and aid groups stressed that rebuilding homes, infrastructure and livelihoods will require not only a sustained halt to hostilities but also long-term international support.

Despite fear of renewed conflict, some displaced Palestinians expressed fragile optimism that the coming year might bring respite and the opportunity to begin recovery. As night fell over the camps, families marked the change quietly—sharing simple meals, prayers and conversations about the future. For many, the turning of the year was not a cause for celebration but a renewed yearning for normalcy, safety for their children, and an end to the cycle of violence and displacement that has devastated Gaza’s social fabric.