In pictures: Palestinians return to north Gaza to find devastation

Thousands of Palestinians are returning to the northern Gaza Strip following the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas - to find total devastation. In Gaza City, residents found entire residential blocks flattened and much of the infrastructure wiped out.

They picked their way through the rubble of their homes, erecting makeshift tents on the debris, while Gaza's civil defence have begun combing through the ruins to recover bodies.

Here, Palestinians inspect their homes after the Israeli army withdrew from Gaza City.

All images were taken by Mohammed al-Hajjar for Middle East Eye on 11 October.

Around 700,000 people were displaced from Gaza City and the north by the Israeli onslaught.

After Israeli forces withdrew, torching civilian infrastructure before they left, Palestinians returned to find their neighbourhoods unrecognisable.

Here, Palestinians retrieve their belongings from under the rubble of their homes.

The UN estimates that 92 percent of all residential buildings across the Gaza Strip have been destroyed since the genocide began in October 2023. Almost all of the territory's population has been displaced over two years.

An estimated 1.5 million people are in need of emergency shelter.

Families and emergency teams have started sifting through the debris to find the bodies of their loved ones. Gaza's civil defence search-and-rescue organisation estimates that some 10,000 people remain trapped under the rubble.

Only a fraction of them have been unearthed, as the workers lack the equipment to recover them quickly and are forced to comb through the wreckage with manual tools, or even their bare hands.

Here, Palestinian youth Mahmoud Salem holds a skull found near his home in Gaza City, as he inspects the property.

Israel killed at least 67,869 people in its two-year onslaught on Gaza. But the death toll is likely to be much higher once bodies are recovered from the wreckage of buildings.

Over 7,000 people are currently listed as missing.

There are few bulldozers left in the Palestinian enclave. Israel tightly restricts the entry of heavy equipment into Gaza. 

If this changes, Gaza's civil defence estimates that all the bodies will be recovered within six months to a year.

Here, rescue workers help remove rubble and reopen roads in Gaza City.

An estimated 60m tonnes of rubble are strewn across the territory. Clearing it will be a huge operation, slowed by lack of equipment and the presence of bodies and unexploded ordinance among the debris.

Along with flattened residential buildings, Gaza's healthcare system lies in ruins, with over half of the territory's 228 hospitals and primary healthcare centres out of service, according to the UN.

Israeli attacks have also decimated Gaza's education system. According to UN figures, 63 university buildings have been destroyed, while 97 percent of school buildings were partially or completely destroyed.

Overall, 78 percent of buildings have been damaged or destroyed. Meanwhile, 99 percent of agricultural land is no longer accessible.

Sixty-two percent of the road network has been damaged or destroyed.