
Birthed in Beit Lahia, 21-year-old Leena Ibrahim Almadhoun states she invested all her life in north Gaza.
When she had not been researching for her psychology level at the Islamic College, Almadhoun states she committed her downtime to exercising her leisure activity, digital photography. “I utilized to enjoy recording whatever in Gaza– its sea, air and roads,” she informed ABC Information.
Israel’s 15-month battle on the territory that adhered to the Hamas terrorist strike on Oct. 7, 2023, left really little of those roads she utilized to photo, according to Almadhoun.

At 8 and a fifty percent, Gaza is formally totally free and the battle on the Gaza Strip has actually finished.
Leena Almadhoun
On Sunday, the initial day of the short-lived ceasefire in between Israel and Hamas, she states she went back to Beit Lahia with her moms and dads to discover it entirely transformed, with even more debris than structures, macabre silence rather than acquainted sounds, and various other participants of her household still away, more southern in Gaza.
Almadhoun began loading the minute she found out about the ceasefire, preparing to record the trip back to her home in Beit Lahia. “We have actually gotten to the definitive minute. We prepare,” she stated in a video clip shown to ABC Information, while shutting boxes with tape, the evening prior to returning.
” We prepare prior to the statement of the truce, to go back to the north,” she stated.
On Sunday early morning, her papa positioned those boxes loaded with items on a cart, and they began making their method home after being displaced for months.

Leena Almadhoun loads in advance of the start of the ceasefire.
Leena Almadhoun
” Because of the absence of transport, we strolled walking in the damage,” Almadhoun stated in a video clip revealing a landscape noted by damage, strolling beside her mommy. “For an hour we have actually been strolling and leaping over the debris since the roads are so ruined,” she stated, recollecting regarding the hard trip.
Although the problems were difficult, she stated she discovered toughness in recognizing it was the last time they would certainly need to walk around because of the problem. “The last day I am sick of strolling, the last day!” she stated in a selfie video clip throughout the stroll.

Leena Almadhoun’s stuffed items.
Leena Almadhoun
Almadhoun’s noticeable pleasure was combined with the despair of seeing acquainted locations minimized to particles, hardly identifying them. “My mommy was most definitely shed and might not acknowledge the locations,” she informed ABC Information.
Nonetheless, Almadhoun relapsed with joy as quickly as she saw her residence still standing, the anger fading away and leaving area for a brand-new hope she stated she had actually not really felt in months.

Leena Almadhoun strolls in the middle of the damages on her method home.
Leena Almadhoun
Tipping foot right into the environment-friendly road where she matured, in sharp comparison with the grey landscape of damages that is currently a lot of north Gaza, and seeing her structure still undamaged, she stated she seemed like she remained in heaven.
” I promise to God, I seem like I remain in paradise, in paradise, in paradise. Applaud be to God, our residence was not ruined. Might the planet be environment-friendly,” she stated in a video clip, revealing the huge white residence where she matured without any significant damages.
Like others in Gaza, after 15 months, Leena Almadhoun is back home.
Yet with almost 60% of structures in the Gaza Strip harmed or ruined considering that the beginning of the battle, according to a Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite evaluation by Corey Scher of CUNY Grad Facility and Jamon Van Den Hoek of Oregon State College, several are entrusted just debris to go back to.
” I loaded my bag with a lot love, arranging it while thinking of the minute I would certainly get back, wishing it would certainly still be secure,” Almadhoun informed ABC Information.
She stated she consisted of the coat with her job’s logo design, a start-up she created throughout the battle called Thamra, which concentrates on sustaining farming in order to guarantee food safety. The job, which has actually brought in over 10,000 fans on Instagram currently, holds a lot of her future, she stated.
” It assisted accomplish self-sufficiency throughout the starvation we experience in north Gaza,” she stated. “All my hope is that I will certainly return more powerful and function relentlessly on Thamra in Beit Lahia.”