Rubble is home to thousands affected by Gaza invasion

Jabaliya: Each morning, Thaeer Al Shaikh sits beside the ruins of his family's two-storey house, destroyed by Israeli forces in the final days of the 22-day Gaza Strip invasion in winter 2008.

He doesn't do anything while here. He says it just makes him feel better.

His extended family, now sharing a rented apartment nearby, recently gave the children a choice: spend the weekend at the beach or hang out next to the rubble. The kids opted for a picnic at the homestead, now a pile of broken concrete and twisted metal.

"I guess we like to return to the place where we grew up," said Al Shaikh, 27, who has built an outdoor sitting area next to the ruins with a "sofa" of broken bricks covered by plastic sheeting held by columns salvaged from the second-storey balcony.

"This is still my home," he said. "Someday we will rebuild, but so far there is no hope."

More than six months after a ceasefire ended the Israeli assault on this enclave controlled by Palestinian fighter group Hamas, little rebuilding is under way for the approximately 6,300 homes destroyed or heavily damaged.

Some 30,000 people remain affected, according to the UN and non-governmental aid groups. Most have moved in with family members or into temporary rentals, but some are still living in tents and trailers with no water or electricity.

Only a fraction of the $4 billion (Dh14.6 billion) in pledged international aid - including $900 million from the US - has been distributed yet, officials here say. That's partly because donors are reluctant to release the money as long as Hamas is in control. It's also because of the ongoing blockade by Israel and Egypt, which have restricted the borders and are preventing the 1.5 million people in Gaza from receiving much beyond basic food and medical aid.

The blockade, designed to diminish Hamas' capacity to launch new attacks against Israel, includes not only cement, glass, steel piping and other construction material, it also has prevented a variety of household goods and food items from passing Gaza's checkpoints, including coffee, tea, light bulbs, crayons, blankets and hair conditioner.

UN agencies say that even though 80 per cent of the population is dependent on their food and medical aid, they are helpless to assist in rebuilding. Only about 75 UN food trucks are permitted into the strip each day, compared with 400 before the blockade began.

The UN Relief and Works Agency, which assists the displaced here, has earmarked nearly $1 billion to rebuild Gaza homes, including about $370 million in short-term relief for emergency repairs and renovations, according to Chris Gunness, a UN spokesman.

"[International] donors have given us the money but we're not able to do anything with it," he said.

On Tuesday, UN and aid groups called on Israel to make an exception to the blockade for schools. They said nearly half of Gaza's schools suffered damage - including 18 that were destroyed - but students are still having to crowd into the remaining classrooms or alternate study with morning and afternoon shifts.

Restrictions have been in place on Gaza since 2007, after Hamas seized control of the strip from its rival Palestinian party, Fatah. Members of Hamas, which refuses to recognise Israel's right to exist, won parliamentary elections in Gaza in 2006, after Israel unilaterally withdrew from the Palestinian territory a year earlier.

But the blockade has become more painful in the aftermath of Israel's winter invasion, which killed as many as 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis, and destroyed much of the region's factories and industry.

Israel, alarmed by the Hamas takeover in Gaza, launched the attack in response to the repeated firing of rockets from the seaside strip into civilian neighbourhoods of southern Israel.

The Israeli government also blames Hamas for the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been missing for three years.

Though Israelis recently said they plan to allow a limited amount of cement into Gaza to repair electricity or sewage plants, they say general restrictions on cement and steel pipes will remain because such materials can be used to build bunkers, tunnels and bombs.

"The entry of 'dual-use' equipment - equipment which while intended for use by civilian systems can be exploited by resistance - has been prevented with the exception of special humanitarian cases," said Major Guy Inbar, an Israeli Defence Ministry spokesman.

Gazans say without enough cement and steel to rebuild, they'll never be able to resume normal lives.

"I lived through the 1967 [Middle East] war, but I've never seen days like this before," said Souad Abd Rabo, 53, who said her home was destroyed by Israeli bulldozers.

Now she and her husband are sleeping under a canopy on foam mattresses next to the rubble because they say they can't find an apartment.

Like many victims, the couple received more than $5,000 cash for emergency aid from UN and aid groups. They also own a plot of land they could use to rebuild. But without materials and supplies, they spend their days waiting.

"We're being wiped out in front of the eyes of the world and nobody cares," she said.

She and others say Hamas shares the blame for failing to protect and support the population. She recently shooed away fighters from her neighbourhood because she feared they would attract the attention of Israelis, who accuse Hamas of hiding its military branch in civilian neighbourhoods.

Hamas assistance for those affected by the war, some victims say, has been focused on the group's members.

"They only help their own," said one homeowner.

A Hamas spokesman did not return phone calls for comment.

Some families are so desperate to rebuild, they've starting making bricks from mud and clay, a practice not seen here in a half century.

"Mud is no solution," Al Shaikh said. "Are we supposed to go back 50 years?"

The blockade has fuelled a thriving black market of goods smuggled from Egypt through a long-standing network of tunnels. As a result, some signs of normalcy have returned. In Gaza City, cafes serve espresso and pastries. Ice-cream vendors are open along the shores. Fruits and vegetables are available.

But prices are out of reach for many families in Gaza, where most live below the poverty line.