Dr. Soma Baroud, a medical doctor and a mother from Gaza recently discovered that her home in the Khan Yunis area, in the southern Gaza Strip, was destroyed by the Israeli army. For over ten months, Dr. Baroud had clung to the hope that one day the family would be reunited in that house, which she built and sustained, along with her husband, a university professor, for over 30 years. With her husband still missing, presumed martyred in the early months of the war (January 2024), Dr. Baroud did everything she could to protect the house and her family. In August, however, the Israeli army destroyed the family home.

Reflecting on their loss, she and her son Yazan penned these words below.

The author, Yazan Baroud, reflects on the repeated destruction and loss he and his family endured in the town of Qarara, east of Khan Yunis, due to ongoing Israeli military operations. After several displacements, he returns to find his once-standing home reduced to rubble, with only a small tree planted by his father still standing. The narrative is filled with sorrow and memories of a once-happy life, juxtaposed with the devastation and uncertainty of the future. Despite the profound loss, the author finds solace in a Quranic verse, accepting the situation with faith and resilience and in these poetic verses :

*Don’t Ask the house, who had dwelled here?

The door, alone, should tell you that the owners had departed.

Oh, you who are standing at the door, be gentle as you knock

For those who had once lived here are no more.

Be kind to your knocking hand,

For there shall be no answer. The beloved are gone.

Be tender for there are no loved ones in this house

Don’t injure your palm, for the injury of those who have already left is deep enough.

Oh, you who are knocking, if you only knew of our story

You would wonder: how did the door survive?

Please be kind to this house, and don’t awaken its pain

For homes, too, have souls, just like people.*

https://www.palestinechronicle.com/homes-have-souls-a-gazan-doctor-and-her-son-reflect-on-the-loss-of-a-father-and-a-home/