Grave Struggles: Palestinians Seek Shelter Amid Conflict

In Khan Younis, Gaza, some Palestinians have found an unusual refuge amid ongoing conflict—cemeteries. For the past five months, families like that of Maisa Brikah have been using gravesites as makeshift homes. Some 30 families are sheltering in a dusty, sun-baked cemetery in this southern city. Gravestones serve as tables and seats for Brikah's family, which includes four young children who find daytime manageable but fear nighttime due to roaming dogs and proximity to the deceased. Over two million people have been displaced by the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel, and while some have begun to return to what's left of their homes after a ceasefire began on October 10, many remain in the parts of Gaza that Israel does not control. In these cemeteries, life continues alongside death. Residents, surrounded by tombstones inscribed with lines from the Quran, experience unease about living amid graves, perceiving it as a form of disrespect—but they have few alternatives. Maisa Brikah's home was destroyed, and Israeli forces now control her neighborhood, making a return impossible. Many, like Mohammed Shmah, have also moved from northern Gaza to this cemetery after their homes were obliterated. Despite being a grown man, Shmah admits he fears the graves at night. Families are trapped in poverty, unable to afford shelter elsewhere, as described by Hanan Shmah, Mohammed's wife, who protects every drop of their precious water allocation. Even among the dead, safety is elusive. According to the United Nations, Israeli forces have bombed cemeteries, accusing Hamas of using them as cover. This has violated the conventional protections cemeteries should have. Throughout the conflict, burial practices were severely disrupted, with bodies often interred wherever possible, including hospital courtyards. With a ceasefire in place, the grim task of recovering the dead is underway. Palestinian health officials post photographs of bodies returned by Israel in hopes of identification. Simultaneously, efforts are ongoing to recover bodies from Gaza’s vast tracts of rubble, which have become accessible only now. The death toll in Gaza—now exceeding 68,800—continues to rise even amid ceasefire due to the recovery of remains. The Khan Younis cemetery bears witness to recently interred bodies, often under sand, marked only by stones. Words like recovery, reconstruction, and return remain distant hopes. "After the ceasefire, my life is the same inside the cemetery, meaning I gained nothing," Mohammed Shmah laments.

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