LocationsSTORY
Finding a Sense of Home Amid Displacement in Gaza
July 8, 2026
Nearly two million Palestinians across the Gaza Strip have experienced repeated displacement since the war began. Forced to flee their homes multiple times, families have sought refuge wherever they could, moving between schools, temporary shelters and makeshift tents while facing overcrowding, insecurity and the loss of privacy. For many, displacement has become an ongoing reality rather than a single event.
For 24 years old, Mayyada, displacement has reshaped every aspect of daily life.
Seven months pregnant with twins and caring for her two-year-old daughter, Mila, Mayyada quietly spreads two dresses across her bed: one soft pink, the other dark green, as she reflects on the future she hopes to build for her children.
“I hope my children’s future will be brighter than our present.”
Originally from Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza, Mayyada has lost count of the number of times her family has been forced to move.
“From our home to another home, from school to school, from tent to tent,” she says. “We move from one place to another. Every time we face many struggles.”
Each displacement meant starting over from scratch. Every new shelter brought new hardships, while the simple comforts of privacy, stability and routine became increasingly difficult to find.
“There were times when we lived in tents with my uncles and aunts,” she recalls. “It was very difficult. There was no privacy at all.”
Displacement also meant leaving behind more than a home. Across Gaza, countless people have lost not only their livelihoods but also the routines and passions that once defined their daily lives.
Mayyada scrolls through photos of her artwork.
UNDP/PAPP
Before the war, Mayyada worked as a portrait artist, painting and selling her artwork. Creativity was an important part of her identity. Yet since the beginning of the war, she has not picked up a crayon or a paintbrush.
“Painting was always the first thing I wanted to do wherever I lived,” she says. “But since the war started, I haven't touched my art.”
The war also changed the future she and her husband, Ahmed, had envisioned together. Before the war, they were planning their marriage and looking forward to building a life of their own.
“I hoped that we would have everything,” she says. “I never expected that I would be living in tents for so long.”
During the ceasefire in March 2025, the family briefly moved into Ahmed’s family home, which had remained standing. But the relief was temporary. As displacement continued, they were once again forced to seek shelter wherever space was available, often sharing tents with other families.
Mayyada and Ahmed with their oldest daughter Mila.
UNDP/PAPP
“When we were displaced again, we had no chance to live by ourselves,” Mayyada explains. “We had to stay in other people's tents.”
Eventually, they returned to the place where their home once stood and built their own makeshift shelter using whatever materials they could find - old clothes, pieces of wood, and nylon sheets.
“We built it from whatever we had,” she says. “But these materials wear out very quickly.”
Like thousands of displaced families across Gaza, they faced constant exposure to the elements, deteriorating shelter materials, and lack of protection from insects and pests. Tents positioned close together offered little privacy and made everyday family life increasingly difficult.
“All of these tents are close together and men and women must stay separately, making family life even more challenging.
As early recovery efforts expand across Gaza, restoring neighbourhoods means more than providing temporary shelter. It requires rebuilding the conditions that allow communities to function again. Through the Gaza Neighbourhood Approach, implemented by UNDP in coordination with the Palestinian Authority, UN sister agencies and other partners, families are supported to return closer to their areas of origin by combining Relief Housing Units with debris removal, rehabilitation of essential services, emergency employment opportunities and the restoration of basic infrastructure.
When Mayyada learned that her family would receive a Relief Housing Unit (RHU), she began counting the days until they could move in.
“When they told us we would get an RHU, we were waiting for that moment,” she says. “Just having a small, private place meant so much.”
Today, the RHU provides the family with a safer and more dignified place to live. More than shelter, it has restored a measure of privacy and stability while allowing them to begin rebuilding a sense of home. The family carries out daily chores outside the unit, while Mayyada has planted greenery around it and started decorating the space.
Mayyada tends to the plants she’s growing outside of her RHU.
UNDP/PAPP
“As an artist, I want to make it beautiful,” she says. “I am trying to create a sense of stability for myself and for my family.”
While the RHU has improved the family's living conditions and restored some privacy, Mayyada's hopes remain focused on the future.
Like many displaced families in Gaza, she dreams of something more permanent; a place to call her own.
“More than anything,” she says, “I still wish to have my own home; to have peace in my mind, and to have peace around me.”
Relief Housing Units are an integral component of the package of essential services delivered through the Gaza Neighbourhood Approach. They are provided with generous support from the Government of Germany, the Government of Sweden, and the Republic of Korea, helping families live with greater safety, dignity and stability while laying the foundations for longer term recovery.
