Having dismantled their tent, giving it to a neighbor for safe keeping, the family walked for hours, everyone except the youngest children carrying large packs laden with bedding, clothes, kitchen things, food and water.

Through long stretches, the road traversed districts of near total ruin, with mounds of rubble lining each side where buildings had stood. As they went farther north, the turquoise Mediterranean Sea on one side contrasted with the dust and debris on the other. When they reached Gaza City, past the Israeli checkpoint in the north of the enclave, they found a taxi for the final stretch, squeezing inside it.