Intisar Madhoun, one of the displaced Palestinians who left Deir al‐Balah and joined the later waves of would‐be returnees, was forced to return south while fleeing [neocolonial] fire. Breathlessly, she tells Mondoweiss that she can’t even get back on her feet, fear apparent on her face. As she stands and speaks on al‐Rashid Street, the sound of the shooting doesn’t stop.

“I want to get back to my home in the north, we’ve been displaced for seven months,” she says. “We can’t keep living in these conditions anymore. Every day is worse than the day before. How long will it stay like this? We’re dying in front of everyone, and no one can help us.”

Intisar is a mother of six. Her family lives in a tent in Deir al‐Balah in central Gaza. Last November, she had fled her neighborhood in the al‐Zaytoun area east of Gaza City. News later reached her that her home had been bombed. She wants to go back regardless.

“Whatever awaits us in the north in my old neighborhood is better than remaining homeless,” she told Mondoweiss. “I want to go back. Even if I find that my home is a pile of rubble, I will live next to it until we rebuild it again. We need to go back home.”