Israel armed forces spokesperson Peter Lerner talks to the press during an 'iron dome' tour at the beginning of the 2014 Gaza war. Central Israel, 2014

A woman raises her hands to her face in shock as the press approaches her after she exited the Shifa hospital morgue. Gaza, July 2014

A doctor opens one of the morgue's units to show a young person brought in following shelling near Khan Younis. Khan Younis hospital, July 2014

Distraught family members leave the morgue at Shifa hospital after viewing or bringing in their deceased relatives. Gaza, July 2014

With a mix of curiosity, fear and disgust, children hanging outside the Shifa hospital survey the blood on a trolley that brought in a body. Gaza, July 2014

An injured child is brought in to Shifa hospital following Israeli shelling. Gaza, July 2014

Deir Al Balah hospital was shelled by Israeli forces on 21 July. Deir Al Balah, July 2014

Relatives sit in shock outside Shifa hospital following an explosion at Shati camp, which killed 11 children. Amnesty International attributed the explosion to a misfired Palestinian rocket. Gaza 28 July 2014

Flares light up the night sky in Shujayea. Gaza July 2014

Israeli armed forces spokesperson Peter Lerner meets the press at an 'iron dome' tour. Israel, July 2014

A meeting with an Israeli family in Ashkelon is organized for the press. The Lau answered questions about daily life during Operation Protective Edge, as Israel named the Gaza war of 2014. Ashkelon, Israel July 2014

The Ashkelon municipality command and control center. Ashkelon, Israel July 2014

Children from the northern city of Beit Hanoun, now displaced to a UNRWA school in Gaza, read the leaflet that the Israeli air force dropped on their city. The leaflet warns civilians to evacuate the area before an imminent attack. Gaza, July 2014

Looking for safety, children displaced from the northern city of Beit Hanoun, moved with their families to UNRWA schools in Gaza city. Gaza, July 2014

A UNRWA school in Gaza city. Up to half a million people were displaced during the war. Gaza, July 2014

A grandmother sleeps next to her niece in a UNRWA school in Gaza. Gaza, July 2014

A bombed out gas station in Gaza city. Gaza, July 2014

On July 23, ICRC entered the bombed out neighbourhood of Shujayea to evacuate the injured and besieged. Gaza July 2014

An ambulance arrives at the Shifa hospital morgue on the day Israeli forces began carpet bombing the neighbourhood of Shujaya. Gaza, 20 July 2014

An ambulance driver holds his head in shock outside the morgue on the day Israeli forces began carpet bombing Shujaya. Gaza, 20 July 2014

Outside the Shifa morgue, Gaza, 20 July 2014.

Paramedics sit in shock under a tree outside Shifa hospital after bringing in corpses from Shujayea. Gaza, 20 July 2014

A woman sits outside Shifa hospital. Gaza, July 2014

A distraught man outside the Shifa morgue. Gaza, 20 July 2014

In Abasan Al Kabira relatives mourn 32 year old Ibrahim Abukther whose dismembered body was found in the rubble of his home. Abasan Al Kabira, 26 July 2014

A residential tower in Gaza was bombed over night. Gaza, July 2014

A bombed building in Shujayea. Gaza, July 2014

On a day of ceasefire towards the end of the war residents of Khouza entered to recover belongings. Khouza, August 2014

Members of the Abu Bakhr family in their bombed home in Shati. Gaza, July 2014

Bedouins from Umm Al Nasser return to their destroyed homes towards the end of the war. Umm Al Nasser, August 2014

A child of the Abu Bakhr family walks in what used to be living room of his home, which was hit by an Israeli missile. Shati, Gaza, July 2014

Children stand at the door of the Abu Bakhr home, which was bombed in the night. 'Impossible love' is written on the red metal door. Gaza, July 2014

Salaheddin, the road linking the north and south of the Gaza strip. July 2014

A man picks up pieces of the Holy Koran from the rubble. Abasan Al Kabira, July 2014

On a day of ceasefire a family surveys the damage to their home in the hard hit neighbourhood of Shujayea. Gaza, July 2014

On a day of ceasefire, families travelled to their homes to recover belongings from the rubble. Shujayea, July 2014

Tuffah, a living room seen through a bombed out floor. Gaza, August 2014

One of the homes in Khouza which were taken over by the Israeli army during the ground operation along the eastern border. August 2014

A Hebrew magazine in one of the homes in Khouza which were taken over by the Israeli army during the ground operation along the eastern border. August 2014

A child's bedroom in one of the homes in Khouza which were taken over by the Israeli army during the ground operation along the eastern border. August 2014

Families put up improvised shelters in Shujayea. August 2014

An elderly man walks through the rubble in Khouza. August 2014

Families recover some of their belongings from the rubble of their homes. July 2014

A group of men surveys the destruction in Shujayea, August 2014

Shujayea, people recover belongings from the rubble of their homes. August 2014

Gaza unprotected

After nearly twenty days of war, the southern Gaza neighborhood of Khuzaa, near Khan Younis, was still off limits on 26 July. Israeli ground forces fired warning shots at neighborhood residents who had gathered one hundred meters from the entrance. They hoped in vain to look for missing relatives and check on the state of their houses.

Abasan al-Kabira, east of Khan Younis, was the easternmost area accessible on that day, or at least what remained of the neighborhood — which once boasted beautiful, large homes and palm trees. The home of Ibrahim Abukther, 32, was at least three stories high. Now the external walls were missing for the most part. On the top floor, lying on one of those soft blankets that are found in every Palestinian home, was a human hand. People gathered said Ibrahim was not able to flee in time. Israeli armed forces had begun shelling the road; his house was one of the closest to the fields leading all the way to Khuzaa and the so-called buffer zone.

Ibrahim’s left leg, burnt and still attached to the bottom part of his torso, was down in the garden. Emergency medic volunteers had lifted it gently and laid it on a stretcher. The stench of decomposing bodies was overpowering.
The same scenes played out in Shujaiya in northern Gaza that same day.
Abdallah Qarara had grabbed his children and fled his home on 20 July when his neighborhood came under intense bombardment by Israeli air and ground forces. Seventy were killed and two hundred were injured in the attack.
Abdullah looked tired. He had had enough of the war, he said. He just wanted to get on with his life. He showed a photo of his two small children on his phone. They were all now living outside al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.

During a ceasefire they returned to find that all that remained standing of their home was the frame. The structure would have to be demolished and the home rebuilt. Downstairs, the family tried to pile up as much as they could onto a horse-drawn cart. Mattresses, pots and pans, those familiar blankets and what looked like sentimental keepsakes: a tray, a plate. Meanwhile in Gaza City’s Beach camp, the Bakr family had suffered the loss of four children playing on the beach in the early days of the war. Just a week later a home belonging to Hassan Bakr was targeted in the refugee camp. Hassan was killed and approximately twenty others were injured.

Children walked barefoot on collapsed cinderblock roofs and broken-up cement blocks. Exhausted, people had stopped asking why. They were picking up the pieces like they had done countless times before, starting their lives over once again. Not knowing what would come next.