Gaza Strip – When the war in Gaza began after October 7, 2023, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced to leave their homes, many of them displaced southward under evacuation orders.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, at least 74,018 Palestinians had been killed and 175,079 wounded in Gaza since the war erupted, as of September 27, 2026.
Some left with nothing, abandoning their homes, their belongings and their memories. Others tried to carry what they could not bear to leave behind: a book, a musical instrument, a toy, a pet or a keepsake.
We asked people in Gaza what they took with them when they fled their homes after October 7 – and what has stayed with them through repeated displacements over the course of the war.
