As a fragile ceasefire holds, displaced Palestinian residents of Gaza City have returned to their homes only to find rubble, with many of them forced to camp out in makeshift shelters.
In the northwest of the city, empty streets are lined with piles of concrete that once were apartment buildings before the Israel-Hamas war, with some structures completely collapsed.
Hossam Majed discovered his home reduced to rubble. Amid the ruins, the 31-year-old salvaged a few belongings, including some furniture and - crucially given the shortages - a large water tank.
While waiting for the rest of his family to return, he has swept aside some dust and rubble, set up a makeshift shelter and will guard what remains from potential thieves.
"Even food is more expensive than in the south because it's scarce. There's no electricity, no water, no internet.
"I have to walk a kilometre and a half... just to fill two water containers," he said.
Umm Rami Lubbad left her home last month to seek safety in southern Gaza, in Khan Younis, as Israel stepped up its offensive on Gaza City in a bid to root out Hamas, whose 7 October 2023 attack sparked the war.
She had hoped to return to her home as "it was the only remaining hope for a little stability".
But upon their return, the mother, her young child and two teenage daughters were caught by surprise.
"My heart nearly stopped when I saw the house reduced to rubble," she said, adding "I was looking as far as my eyes could see - and saw nothing".
Now, Ms Lubbad and her children are effectively homeless.
"We sleep in the street regardless. I don't have a tent," she said, adding that neighbours took them in when artillery shelling made the outdoors too dangerous.
With her children she has gathered some wood, clothing and a gas tank, hoping to use the wood for cooking or to build makeshift toilets.
'Gaza has turned into a ghost town'
"Life is extremely hard. I don't know how long we'll endure," she said.
She hopes tents will eventually be allowed into Gaza, which is under a strict Israeli siege.
Ahmad al-Abbasi, who had fled south during the bombings, returned to find that nothing of his five-storey building remained in Gaza City.
"We came back north hoping to find our homes and (rebuild our) lives. As you can see... Gaza has turned into a ghost town," he said.
In front of the ruins he has attempted to set up a makeshift tent beside a Palestinian flag fluttering from a pole.
He has stacked some cinder blocks to anchor iron rods for holding up a sheet, which is meant to serve as a roof.
Though the shelter stands, the wind catches the fabric and the flag, making them flap loudly.
"We're trying to salvage everything we can. We'll try to fix even just one room or one tent to shelter ourselves, our children, and our families," he said.
Mustafa Mahram, another Palestinian who returned to Gaza City, also found his three-storey house reduced to rubble.
"Everything's gone, turned to ashes... There's no way to live here," he lamented.
Mr Mahram has set up a tent near the remains of his house and feels his family has been "thrown into the street".
"There's no water - no drinking water, not even salty water, no water at all," he said.
"None of the essentials of life are available - no food, nothing to drink, nothing. And as you can see, there's nothing left but rubble."
Infectious diseases 'spiralling out of control' in Gaza: WHO
The World Health Organization has warned that infectious diseases are "spiralling out of control" in the Gaza Strip, with only 13 of the Palestinian territory's 36 hospitals even partially functioning.
"Whether meningitis... diarrhoea, respiratory illnesses, we're talking about a mammoth amount of work,"
Hanan Balkhy, regional director for the United Nations' health body, said in Cairo.
A ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas has raised hopes of life-saving aid and healthcare finally reaching Palestinians in Gaza after two years of war, but Ms Balkhy warned the challenges are "unimaginable".
"We need more fuel to go into Gaza, we need more food, more medical equipment, medications, medics, doctors," she said in an interview, echoing demands by international leaders for Israel to allow in a massive increase of aid.
WHO data shows there are only eight health facilities, all of them partially functioning, in Gaza City - the territory's main urban hub.
The organisation says the hospitals still standing are suffering dire shortages of medical personnel, who have themselves faced famine and Israel's relentless offensive, which has claimed nearly 68,000 lives according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The UN considers those figures reliable.
For Ms Balkhy, when people talk about repairing Gaza's devastated hospitals, "the question is how many of them are available for rehabilitation versus (having to) rebuild all over again?"
"We're talking about billions of dollars, and we're talking about decades of work," she said, after the territory's healthcare was essentially "dismantled".
'Very little left'
Since Hamas's 7 October, 2023 attack on Israel which sparked the war, Gaza's health facilities have suffered more than 800 attacks, according to UN data.
"There is very little left of the healthcare system. You have children that were born over the past two years, who many of them, I'm assuming, have received zero doses of immunisations."
The UN says nearly 42,000 people are suffering life-changing injuries, a quarter of them children.
Ms Balkhy called for patients to be able to once again "access the West Bank and Jerusalem, so that they can get the care that is available right close by, and that's the place where they used to go for care".
Israel has severely limited permits for Palestinians to leave Gaza throughout the war, making medical evacuations nearly impossible.
Mental health needs, on the other hand, have more than doubled among the more than two million Palestinians trapped under bombardment for two years, according to the WHO.
Over one million people require "urgent support", but available care falls far short.
"We're really hoping that the peace is fully sustained, so that we can start," Ms Balkhy said.
