After 15 months of war, children can still remember Gaza's coastline sparkling brightly in the sun.
They used to point in excitement and wonder at the reflection dancing on the clear blue water.
Picturesque, like a scene from a holiday brochure, it was once 13-year-old Mahmoud Mousa's happy place, where he had often visited with friends.
This is what it looked like in 2022.
But now, it has transformed into a vast landscape of destruction.
Beachfront homes have been reduced to rubble.
The once yellow sands were stained in parts with rubbish and debris.
More than 300,000 Palestinians began their journeys home to North Gaza after 15 months of war, walking along the once-beloved ocean, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Many pitched tents on the sand to rest after a long journey, while others used the beach as a meeting point to reunite with loved ones they hadn't seen since before the war.
Many returned to find their homes in ruin, having to seek shelter amongst the rubble. Others returned to search for relatives lost.
Mahmoud and his family are displaced in Khan Younis, after returning to find their home in Rafah was razed.
He used to play soccer with his friends, little brother Amir and cousin.
He said "the ball" was one of the things he missed the most about pre-war days.
The past 15 months have been a “very, very, very hard life" on him and his family.
“You live in a house and move to a tent, it is hot in the summer and cold in the winter, and the rain is falling on you," he said.
"There's also hunger and death [that you face] within a year-and-a-half of war."
When a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was announced, Mahmoud was overwhelmed with "hope and joy".
He posted on social media capturing his reaction. Mahmoud with his brother Amir and cousin can be seen jumping up and down with joy.
But Mahmoud's relief was mixed with "tears of joy" as he began to cry shortly after celebrating with the others.
He said when he heard about the ceasefire it gave him so much hope he could go home, but that "quickly turned to devastation" when they learnt their home was gone.
In a video he posted to his social media, he showed his home in ruins with a part of a launched missile still remaining between the rubble of his house.
Rebuilding Gaza
The Israel-Gaza war erupted on October 7, 2023 when Hamas launched an attack on Israel killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 others hostage, according to Israeli authorities.
The Gaza Health Ministry says more than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's air strikes on the strip.
More than 9,000 people have been reported missing in Gaza since the war began, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Gaza City, in the north of the enclave, has turned into a shell of the bustling, rough-edged urban centre it once was before the war.
Drone footage showed apocalyptic scenes with swathes of buildings levelled by Israeli bombardments and piles of rubble and torn-up concrete on every side.
Two-thirds of Gaza's pre-war structures — more than 170,000 buildings — have been damaged or flattened, according to the United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) analysis issued in December. That amounts to about 69 per cent of the total structures in the Gaza Strip.
Within the count are a total of 245,123 housing units, according to an estimate from UNOSAT.
It would take billions of dollars to rebuild Gaza, which measures about half the size of Canberra, according to assessments from the United Nations.
During a UN meeting this month, a damage assessment showed that clearing more than 50 million tonnes of rubble left in the aftermath of Israel's bombardment could take 21 years and cost up to $US1.2 billion ($A1.9 billion).
The UN Environment Programme's preliminary assessment was "debris poses risks to human health and the environment, from dust and contamination with unexploded ordnance, asbestos, industrial and medical waste, and other hazardous substances".
"Human remains buried beneath the debris must be dealt with sensitively and appropriately," it said.
Gaza's civil defence agency has estimated that 10,000 bodies are missing under the debris.
A United Nations Development Programme official said development in Gaza has been set back by 69 years as a result of the conflict.
The tiny enclave was home to about two million people.
The UN humanitarian office estimates more than 1.8 million people need emergency shelter and essential household items, 1.95 million people are projected to face "high levels of acute food insecurity".
It also estimates about 1.4 million people receive less than the recommended six litres of water per person per day for drinking and cooking, and 18 out of 36 hospitals were "partially functional".
Hospitals still struggling
Twenty one year-old medical student Nermeen Ziyad works at Gaza's European Hospital in Khan Younis, one of the few functioning hospitals left.
Before the war, she lived with her family in Khan Younis, with what she described as "stability, safety and calm".
She often reminisces about sitting in her backyard in the early hours of the morning making prayers and supplications while listening to the sound of birds chirping.
Nermeen draws on his memory to make it through long days at the hospital.
Like Mahmoud, the beach was also somewhere she went to unwind.
"I miss the beach very much, even though we are displaced near it, it's full of displaced people in tents.
"You can't find a quiet place to sit, and [going to the] sea has now become very sad."
After 10 months of living in a tent, moving eight times with her family, she would still go to work in the hospital to help as many people as she can.
"We lived through very difficult nights. We went through nights when we thought we would not see the morning, the next day, and sat in a corner ... where we were just waiting for God's mercy [to keep us safe]," she said.
When she and her family went back to see their home, they were grateful that it was still standing, but without windows or doors, and covered in bullet holes.
She said it was difficult to live there during the winter, but was grateful to have a roof above her head which was better than the tents.
Given the shortage of doctors, Nermeen has been working for months as a volunteer doctor while finishing up her studies online.
"I lived very difficult days working at the hospital and saw scenes that I had never seen in my life. I was collapsing from the inside but I remained strong in order to help patients and people," she said.
But she hasn't let it crush her spirits, and has hope to graduate in the near future.
"Sometimes I go up to the library to download lectures or do my exams, and I hope that I can complete this path successfully in order to become a humanitarian doctor and help people more," she said.
