New year dawns amid rubble and resolve in Gaza
Peace and Security | 2 January 2026
As 2026 begins, residents of the Gaza Strip are confronting life in displacement camps and among the ruins of destroyed neighbourhoods – facing deep uncertainty after months of war and devastation.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians remain uprooted, many living in makeshift tents pitched on bare ground or squeezed into damaged buildings without reliable access to water, electricity, healthcare or sanitation. Winter rains have compounded the hardship, flooding shelters and turning camp pathways into heavy mud.
Fragile hope
Yet, amid the destruction, displaced families say the arrival of a new year has stirred fragile hopes for stability, safety and a chance to rebuild lives interrupted by conflict. Standing in front of her tent, Umm Rabee’ Al-Malash appealed for more international engagement.
“The Palestinian people must be supported, as they have endured immense suffering,” she told our correspondent. “Help us rebuild the Gaza Strip, bring about peace, and allow us to have a State where we can live in peace and security.”
Turn back the clock
Kamal Abu Hsheish, originally from the Jabalia camp, said his only wish is to return to the life he knew before the war. For now, daily reality inside the camps continues to impose severe humanitarian conditions on thousands of families.
Aid agencies warn that relief efforts face mounting challenges, including damaged infrastructure, restricted access and the sheer scale of need. Reconstruction, they say, will require sustained international commitment once conditions allow if the Gaza peace deal can advance to the next stage.
As Gaza’s displaced population marks the start of another year – with no return to their old life in sight – hopes remain bound to an end to violence and meaningful political progress on the 20-point plan which established the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in early October.
Until then, families wait, enduring loss and uncertainty, while clinging to the belief that the coming months may finally bring safety, dignity and the possibility of going home to rebuild.
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