A Palestinian returns to their destroyed houses by Israeli strikes in the east of northern Gaza Strip, on January 19, 2009. Right after a ceasefire was declared by both Israel and Gaza militant groups, thousands of Gaza residents went back to their homes they had fled during the war, only to see how huge the destruction was. [Xinhua]

Holding his broom with dozens of local workers, Gaza resident Mohamed al-Hajjar, 25, said "I think it's time now to clean our city and reconstruct what Israel had destroyed."

Al-Hajjar and other workers were called to clean up the city's roads from the rubble resulted during the 22-day Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip, which the Palestinians call it "the War."

During the offensive, Israeli F16 warplanes bombarded hundreds of Hamas-ruled governmental and security buildings, in addition to mosques, schools, universities, hospitals and houses. The offensive had stopped by both Israel and Gaza militant groups on January 18.

Municipalities bulldozers were called to remove the huge rubble and big pieces of cements and rocks from the main streets, which spread allover during the airstrikes, then dozens of workers swept the dust, the sand and the tiny fragments of iron and glass.

"We are all sad for what happened. I just want to ask, what did Israel gain out of this war, it only killed and destroyed everything here, but I say it (Israel) will never be able to break our determination or our resistance," said al-Hajjar.