'I'm 89 and I saw my homeland rebuilt before - but now I don't believe Gaza has a future'
Ayish Younis, at the age of 89, reflects on his life's journey, filled with war, displacement, and an unyielding hope for Gaza's future. His story begins in 1948, when he was just a child being forced to flee his village of Barbara amidst the chaos of the first Arab-Israeli war. Despite having seen his homeland rebuilt in the past, Ayish's current experience leads him to doubt the possibility of a meaningful recovery for Gaza.
“I rode away on a camel with my grandmother, along a sandy road, and I started to cry,” Ayish remembers, reliving the worst moment of his life while fleeing war. He recounts the fear that compelled his family to abandon their home in search of safety, a journey that ultimately led them to the Gaza Strip.
Having lived in a tent after previous displacements, Ayish finds himself in a similar situation today after the destruction of his home in Rafah during the ongoing conflict. Forced to evacuate yet again, he has been living in makeshift accommodation with little access to basic necessities, echoing the sentiment of many in the region who have endured similar fates.
Despite the recent glimmers of hope from ceasefire agreements, such as the release of hostages, Ayish's outlook remains grim. He reflects on the extensive damage to Gaza's infrastructure, questioning whether it can be rebuilt even with international support. “I don’t believe Gaza has any future,” he states, embodying the despair felt by many in his community.
As families like Ayish's grapple with displacement and destruction, there is a deep longing for return—both to their former homes and to a sense of stability. Ayish, along with his extensive family, dreams of a return to Barbara, despite its alteration by the passage of time and conflict. “We returned to what we started with,” he notes with sadness, emphasizing his fears that the cycle of destruction and rebuilding may never end.
