Gazans prepare for life after war

As a long-awaited cease-fire between Israel and Hamas was announced Wednesday night, tens of thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip did not look back: into dark, bomb-torn streets, cheering, singing, crying and celebrating with guns fired into the air.

But for most, the happiness in Gaza Expected 15 months of devastating war will stop – the deadliest in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – mixed with grief, with death, destruction and the realization that their lives will never be the same again.

“People are very happy,” said Shifa al-Ghazali, a mother of four young children in Gaza City who lost her husband, mother, brother and two uncles in the war. “Even though I have pain, I have hope.”

“We’ve lost everything, including our loved ones, but it’s time for this flood of blood to stop,” said Nidaa Aita, a trader who has lived for months in a crowded tent city on the windswept coast in the coastal al-Mawasi area.

“My house in Gaza City was bombed and destroyed but I am content to go back and live in the ruins. I can’t believe we are finally going home. I have been displaced 14 times.

Since the attack by Hamas on the Jewish state on October 7, 2023, the situation of the people of Gaza, who have been living under a terrible siege and bombardment by Israel, has become a topic of discussion in the world.

More than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli military bombings and land occupations, officials say, and many people have yet to come to terms with the tragic loss of many family members.

With much of Gaza reduced to rubble, 1.9mn of the besieged territory’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced, many repeatedly. Gaza health officials say thousands more unaccounted for bodies remain in the rubble.

Most of the evacuees have taken refuge in Al-Mawasi, which Israel has designated a “humanitarian zone” but which is still occasionally targeted by Israeli lethal firepower.

In the so-called “Orphan City” – a camp in al-Mawasi for families whose step-sponsors were killed – organizer and teacher Mahmoud Kalak said the news of the truce erupted with joy and song.

“People are very happy that this nightmare is over. . . But it is mixed with deep sadness. Because as soon as the war ends, new bloodshed begins – pain and loss,” Kalakh said. “Everyone here is living the same pain, everyone has lost their fathers or mothers… But when people start returning home, the real sense of loss and suffering begins.

After consulting with the families – about 3,000 people are accommodated in the camp – Kalak said that they decided to open an “orphan city” because many of them have nowhere to go.

14-year-old Mohammed, who lives in another camp, lost his mother and father in Israeli bombings. “We hope the war will end so we can continue our lives and do normal things,” said Mohammed, whose leg was amputated during the war. “I personally want to play football.”

Reconciliation is scheduled to begin on Sunday First, a six-week ceasefire agreementFinally, it is expected to bring relief on both sides. Israelis hope to free all 98 remaining hostages held in Gaza since Oct. 7, the deadliest day since the Holocaust.

It is an opportunity for Gazans to begin to address the dire humanitarian situation in the region. Since the start of the war, there has been no electricity, and the health system has collapsed due to repeated attacks by Israeli forces, who say Hamas militants are hiding in hospitals.

Israel’s ban on aid convoys has led to severe shortages of fuel, food and warm clothing, with many facing months of starvation, particularly in the cut-off north, UN officials said. According to the agreement, Israel must allow 600 truckloads of humanitarian aid to enter the Raqqa per day.

However, Catharsis was plagued with deep doubts about how much relief Gazans could expect. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delayed a cabinet meeting last Thursday to approve the deal. The far-right coalition members are under pressure. Those who oppose the agreement.

After the cease-fire comes into effect, negotiators must finalize a second and possible third phase of the deal to bring the war to a permanent end and, in theory, ensure Israeli troops withdraw from the conflict.

Israel stepped up its bombardment earlier Sunday, with Palestinian health officials saying on Thursday that attacks had killed 77 people and wounded 250 more since the ceasefire was announced.

Across Gaza, a massive reconstruction effort awaits, with millions of broken concrete blocks littered with unexploded bombs that will take years to clear, UN officials say.

In Al-Mawasi, Om Ahmed, a mother of three with her husband, was displaced from the northern city of Jabalia, once home to 200,000 people. reduced to rubble In a major Israeli military operation that has been ongoing since October. Even though her home is gone, she plans to return.

“They say there will be tents or caravans that we can live in,” she said. “We don’t know if things will get better, if we’ll be safe, or if something bad will happen. Only God knows. It was hard here because we don’t have money, but now it only brings peace.

Fedaa Zeyad, a writer who was displaced with her family from Gaza City, said she is eager to return to the north to look for the ruins of her home to remember her dead mother.

Ziad wants to meet her sister, a doctor said, who is currently in a hospital in northern Gaza under siege by Israeli soldiers. “After meeting the people I love, all I want to do is sit on the beach and watch the sea,” she said. Now my greatest hope is that this nightmare will end.

Cartography by Aditi Bhandari