GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Halawa family’s building still rises two stories above the rubble in Gaza City, a small miracle after two years of Israeli airstrikes wrought heavy damage on homes across the Palestinian territory.
One section of the building has collapsed, and bent metal rods jut out from where a roof once stood. A narrow set of creaking wooden steps built by the family lead up to their home, threatening to collapse at any moment.
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CORRECTS CAVALRY TO SECURITY SERVICES A framed photo of Muhammad Qutay serving in the Palestinian Authority’s security services hangs on a damaged wall in the family home in the Al-Karama neighborhood of Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A tent belonging to the Magdi Arafat family stands among the ruins of homes in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood of Gaza City, Friday, Nov. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Saadia Abu Duheir, a mother of six, organizes her kitchen inside a temporary tent set up over the rubble of her family's collapsed home in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Saadia Abu Duheir, a mother of six, hangs laundry beside a tent set up over the rubble of her family's collapsed home in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A framed photo of Muhammad Qutay, who served in the Palestinian Authority's cavalry, hangs on a damaged wall in the family home in the Al-Karama neighborhood of Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Amani Halawa combs her daughter Aya's hair under the roof of their damaged home, with a tree and messages of longing and hope painted behind them, in Jabaliya, Gaza City, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Omar Qutay washes dishes in the kitchen of his partially destroyed home in the Al-Karama neighborhood of Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Children from the Abu Duheir family step down from their temporary tent, erected over the rubble of their collapsed home in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Amani Halawa prepares food beneath the half-collapsed roof of her home, with her children Aya, 13, and Bashir, 10, by her side as they try to carry on daily life amid the rubble, in Jabaliya, Gaza City, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Omar Qutay sits on a bed placed on the balcony of his partially destroyed home in the Al-Karama neighborhood of Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Bisan Taroush watches a movie on a laptop beneath the partially collapsed roof of her home, carrying on with daily life amid the ruins, in Jabaliya, Gaza City, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Amani and Mohammed Halawa pose for a picture with their children, Aya, 13, and Bashir, 10, inside their partially collapsed home, with a tree and messages of longing and hope painted on the wall behind them, Jabaliya, Gaza City, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025.(AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Amani Halawa warms a beverage over a fire in a dilapidated room, making do amid the rubble of her damaged home in Jabaliya, Gaza City, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025.(AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Rita Abu Shaqfa plays with her dog in front of their collapsed home, where the family struggles to live using damaged solar panels, in Jabaliya, Gaza City, Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Sahar Taroush cleans her home beneath a partially collapsed roof while her children, Ammar, left, Hassan, right, and their 2-year-old sister, Ahlam, sit nearby, in Jabaliya, Gaza City, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Khadija Abu Shaqfa and her daughter Rita move through the kitchen of their damaged home, where food and pottery lies amid the rubble, in Jabaliya, Gaza City, Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Sahar Taroush talks with her brother in her partially collapsed home after returning following the latest ceasefire, Jabaliya, Gaza City, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. Also pictured are her children, Ammar far left; Hassan with his 2-year-old sister, Ahlam; and Bisan, right. (AP Photo/ Jehad Alshrafi)
Food and pottery sit amid the rubble in the kitchen of the Abu Shaqfa family, a small sign of daily life beneath the roof of their partially collapsed home in Jabaliya, Gaza City, Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Amani Halawa lights a fire as her daughter Aya arranges laundry in their damaged home in Jabaliya, Gaza City, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025.(AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
The half-collapsed home of the Halawa family stands in Jabaliya, Gaza City, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. Amani and Mohammed Halawa and their children returned after the ceasefire to find rubble and a damaged roof that they repaired with debris. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
But even in the debris, it’s still home.
The war began with Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, in which around 1,200 people in Israel were killed and over 250 others taken hostage. Israel’s ensuing offensive in Gaza has killed tens of thousands of people, caused widespread destruction and displaced most of the territory’s 2 million residents.
The close of this year has brought some relief, with a ceasefire brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump in October. But reconstruction has not begun and is expected to take years. Now, as the ceasefire moves into 2026, families like the Halawas are trying to rebuild their lives as best they can.
The family fled home three months after the war broke out. They returned in the tenuous calm that has taken hold during the truce. Like many, the family of seven said living in the ruins felt preferable to tents, especially as winter rains began.
In one damaged room, Amani Halawa heated a small tin of coffee over a fire as thin rays of light slipped through concrete chunks. Halawa, her husband, Mohammed, and their children have repaired what they could using scraps of concrete, while hanging backpacks from exposed metal rods and lining the kitchen floor with pots and pans.
The walls of the home are adorned with a painted tree and messages to loved ones they have been separated from by the war.
In damaged apartments across Gaza City, daily routines continue, even as families lie awake at night, worried that the walls may collapse on top of them. Health officials say at least 11 people have been killed in building collapses in just one week in December.
In her home, Sahar Taroush swept dust off carpets placed over the rubble. The face of her daughter Bisan was lit by the glow of a computer screen as she watched a movie next to gaping holes in the wall.
On the cracked wall of another building, a family hung a torn photo of their grandfather on horseback from his time in the Palestinian Authority's security services in the 1990s. Not far away, a man rested on a bed teetering on the edge of a damaged balcony, scrolling on his phone above the shattered Al-Karama neighborhood.
With so much uncertainty ahead, families are trying to restore even the smallest sense of familiarity to homes that no longer fully exist.
This is a documentary photo story curated by AP photo editors.
Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
CORRECTS CAVALRY TO SECURITY SERVICES A framed photo of Muhammad Qutay serving in the Palestinian Authority’s security services hangs on a damaged wall in the family home in the Al-Karama neighborhood of Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A tent belonging to the Magdi Arafat family stands among the ruins of homes in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood of Gaza City, Friday, Nov. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Saadia Abu Duheir, a mother of six, organizes her kitchen inside a temporary tent set up over the rubble of her family's collapsed home in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Saadia Abu Duheir, a mother of six, hangs laundry beside a tent set up over the rubble of her family's collapsed home in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A framed photo of Muhammad Qutay, who served in the Palestinian Authority's cavalry, hangs on a damaged wall in the family home in the Al-Karama neighborhood of Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Amani Halawa combs her daughter Aya's hair under the roof of their damaged home, with a tree and messages of longing and hope painted behind them, in Jabaliya, Gaza City, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Omar Qutay washes dishes in the kitchen of his partially destroyed home in the Al-Karama neighborhood of Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Children from the Abu Duheir family step down from their temporary tent, erected over the rubble of their collapsed home in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Amani Halawa prepares food beneath the half-collapsed roof of her home, with her children Aya, 13, and Bashir, 10, by her side as they try to carry on daily life amid the rubble, in Jabaliya, Gaza City, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Omar Qutay sits on a bed placed on the balcony of his partially destroyed home in the Al-Karama neighborhood of Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Bisan Taroush watches a movie on a laptop beneath the partially collapsed roof of her home, carrying on with daily life amid the ruins, in Jabaliya, Gaza City, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Amani and Mohammed Halawa pose for a picture with their children, Aya, 13, and Bashir, 10, inside their partially collapsed home, with a tree and messages of longing and hope painted on the wall behind them, Jabaliya, Gaza City, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025.(AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Amani Halawa warms a beverage over a fire in a dilapidated room, making do amid the rubble of her damaged home in Jabaliya, Gaza City, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025.(AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Rita Abu Shaqfa plays with her dog in front of their collapsed home, where the family struggles to live using damaged solar panels, in Jabaliya, Gaza City, Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Sahar Taroush cleans her home beneath a partially collapsed roof while her children, Ammar, left, Hassan, right, and their 2-year-old sister, Ahlam, sit nearby, in Jabaliya, Gaza City, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Khadija Abu Shaqfa and her daughter Rita move through the kitchen of their damaged home, where food and pottery lies amid the rubble, in Jabaliya, Gaza City, Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Sahar Taroush talks with her brother in her partially collapsed home after returning following the latest ceasefire, Jabaliya, Gaza City, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. Also pictured are her children, Ammar far left; Hassan with his 2-year-old sister, Ahlam; and Bisan, right. (AP Photo/ Jehad Alshrafi)
Food and pottery sit amid the rubble in the kitchen of the Abu Shaqfa family, a small sign of daily life beneath the roof of their partially collapsed home in Jabaliya, Gaza City, Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Amani Halawa lights a fire as her daughter Aya arranges laundry in their damaged home in Jabaliya, Gaza City, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025.(AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
The half-collapsed home of the Halawa family stands in Jabaliya, Gaza City, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. Amani and Mohammed Halawa and their children returned after the ceasefire to find rubble and a damaged roof that they repaired with debris. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
