Gaza's utter destruction stretches as far as the eye can see; rubble upon rubble.

Yet people are attempting to rebuild their lives here, without running water, heating or electricity.

They are mostly relying on scavenged wood from broken furniture to light fires.

The 23-member Abed family live in a makeshift home in the rubble of their old house. They rely on firewood for cooking, as well as warmth.

“”There is nothing left, no bed, no chair, we have used everything to start a fire. Nothing is left.,” Marwan Abed, 62, told the Associated Press from under the crumbling concrete of his house in Jabaliya.

For Abed’s family, firewood is crucial to cook and keep warm in a numbingly-cold December in Gaza.

Since Israel and Hamas entered a US-brokered ceasefire on Oct. 10, cooking gas has been entering Gaza, but only a fraction of residents can afford it because of the soaring prices.

A 12-kilogram cooking gas cylinder has soared from 72 shekels ($22.24) before the war to 1,314 shekels ($406).

Elsewhere in Jabaliya, Yasser al-Ashkar reminisced about life before the war.

“It was a real apartment that had everything. It had furniture and all necessities” he said.

"There has been no gas and no electricity since the beginning of the war. We have used everything as firewood to cook and eat.”

The lack of cooking gas has resulted in a brisk trade for scavenged wood.

Firewood merchant Mohamed Jundieh explained that he bought wood from scavengers and then sold it on.

"They benefit and so do we.”