The survivors of the Israeli offensive in Gaza have slowly begun to restore a semblance of normalcy to their daily lives.
Public facilities are operating once again, the streets are being cleared, tractors are at work removing piles of rubble, power lines are being fixed and electricity and water services are being restored to homes in Gaza.
Government employees went back to work on January 21 and arrangements are being made for those whose offices have been destroyed.
Palestinian ministries are recommencing their work despite the destruction of some of their facilities.
Schools reopened on January 24 but many classes were overcrowded as they attempted to accommodate students from buildings which had been destroyed by Israeli air raids.
Meanwhile, the police have pledged to return to the streets in full uniform in a matter of days.
However, the return to a sense of normalcy in Gaza, despite the siege and threat of renewed Israeli attacks, has been slow in coming.
In the first 24 hours following the Israeli announcement of a unilateral ceasefire many Gazans exercised caution and did not venture out.
Those who did leave their homes, headed to the nearest store or moved from one home to another in order to reunite with their families; the majority stayed put and decided to wait.
The city looked and felt deserted. It was not until the next day that people began to slowly emerge and examine their immediate surroundings.
Residents of neighbourhoods that were occupied by Israeli forces during the ground offensive feared returning to their apartment buildings and houses in case the ceasefire failed to hold.
They only visited their homes in the daytime to survey the extent of the damage.
Garbage and debris
It was no small shock to see the state of destruction levelled on Gaza City. The streets were filled with garbage, rubble and debris. Pavements seemed like they had been pulled out of the ground.
The roads were strewn with overturned cars, fallen lampposts, trees, windows and bricks that had been blown out of homes.
Driving through the city centre, where several government buildings had once been, was like driving through a junkyard. Every street, every alley, every corner bears evidence of mayhem and upheaval.
While the central areas of Gaza City were badly affected, the scale of the destruction in the outlying areas and towns is incomparable.
Beit Lahya a town with orange and olive groves, factories and residential areas was laid waste.
You could not walk more than a few metres without passing a home, school, warehouse, public service building or mosque that had been flattened. In some parts of the town, entire clusters of houses had been demolished.
Other houses which were left still standing are now uninhabitable because they had their windows blown by shrapnel and artillery shells which fell nearby.
The orange groves were not spared the destruction; tens of trees had been uprooted and some fields were bulldozed - leaving no trace of local agriculture.