Photos: Palestinians rebuild Gaza’s ruins with mud bricks, scrap
More than 90 percent of Gaza has been left destroyed since October 2023, and residents are improvising with mud bricks, salvaged timber and sheets of fabric to rebuild homes and shops. Photographs from camps and neighbourhoods across the territory show families moulding clay bricks and erecting fragile structures directly atop rubble as construction supplies remain scarce.
Why It Matters
The improvised reconstruction underscores the depth of Gaza’s destruction and the shortage of building materials: millions of tonnes of rubble remain, only a tiny fraction has been cleared, and families are being forced into unsafe, temporary shelters rather than permanent housing.
Key Facts
- Destruction: More than 90% of the Gaza Strip has been destroyed since October 2023 (Gaza authorities).
- Casualties reported: Palestinian health authorities and Gaza’s Government Media Office report at least 73,658 Palestinians killed, including more than 21,500 children.
- Explosives dropped: The Gaza Government Media Office estimates about 223,000 tonnes of explosives were dropped on the territory.
- Rubble generated: Bombardment is estimated to have produced about 68 million tonnes of rubble.
- Debris cleared: The United Nations says roughly 310,000 tonnes — under 0.5% — of rubble have been cleared so far.
Across neighbourhoods flattened by months of bombardment, Palestinian families are rebuilding with whatever materials they can salvage. Photographs from central Gaza and Gaza City show people moulding clay bricks by hand, cutting reclaimed wood and using fabric and plastic sheets to patch shops and homes destroyed during the offensive.
In refugee camps such as Maghazi and areas like Nuseirat, residents stack handmade mud bricks directly on broken concrete and cratered floors, forming thin walls and makeshift rooms. The images include young men and boys mixing clay and water in plastic containers to shape bricks, carpenters sawing timber beside ruined houses, and children climbing into small wooden shelters built on top of ruined foundations.
Officials and aid agencies say the scale of destruction is vast: Gaza authorities estimate that over 90 percent of the territory has been destroyed. Local sources report at least 73,658 Palestinians killed, including more than 21,500 children. The Gaza Government Media Office estimates about 223,000 tonnes of explosives were used, producing roughly 68 million tonnes of rubble; the UN says only about 310,000 tonnes of that debris — less than half a percent — have been removed so far.
Those figures help explain why makeshift rebuilding continues. The rudimentary mud-brick and timber structures provide a short-term alternative to overcrowded tents or sleeping outdoors, but they offer limited protection from heat, rain and cold. With rubble-clearing proceeding at a rate that would take decades to complete, families face a prolonged period of fragile, improvised shelter and immense reconstruction needs.
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