The agreement between Hamas and Israel offered the first glimmer of hope after months of relentless bombardment, hunger, and destruction. Yet even now, as both sides announce a ceasefire, for the people of Gaza the question is not when the war will end, but whether anything will change afterward. After years in which truces gave way to renewed attacks, believing in the end of suffering has become a luxury few can afford.
Palestinians in Gaza greeted the news of the overnight deal between Hamas and Israel with relief, but also with many questions—what it would mean for them, their loved ones, and their devastated communities.
On Thursday morning, the situation had not materially changed: food, water, and medicine were still scarce, and the cities remained in ruins. Yet there was a faint sense of hope.
“We still don’t understand anything,” said Awni Sami Abu Hasera, 36, who has been living in a shabby tent in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, since an Israeli ground offensive last month destroyed his home and once-thriving seafood business in Gaza City.
“We’re still waking up,” he added. “I don’t see a ceasefire yet.”
He admitted he could not comprehend what the agreement might mean for his family, but even if the fighting stops, he has no intention of staying in the devastated enclave.
“As soon as the borders open, I’ll take my family and leave—anywhere, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “It’s impossible to describe what life in a tent and life in displacement really mean.”
Dr. Ahmed al-Farra, head of the pediatric ward at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, said that no new patients had arrived on Thursday morning following Israeli attacks. But regardless of what happens next, he noted, Gaza’s hospitals—already under immense strain—are unlikely to recover quickly.
Dr. al-Farra added that past experiences with short-term ceasefires, which were inevitably followed by renewed rounds of violence, make him view the current agreement with caution.
“We hope it’s true and that the war has really ended,” he said.
In Deir al-Balah, 25-year-old Mohammed Fares described similar feelings of joy and anxiety. The agreement, he said, seemed “too good to be true.”
“I’m very happy and thinking about returning to Gaza, but I’m afraid the war will start again,” he said, recalling that he had left the city in search of relative safety at the beginning of the conflict.
But like Abu Hasera, he believes Palestinians will continue to suffer for a long time to come: “So much has been destroyed and lost.”
“It will take decades to make Gaza livable again,” Fares said.
Some, however, look to the future with greater optimism.
Mohammed al-Atrash, 36, said he felt relief and gratitude “to all the countries that helped end the war,” though it remains unclear whether the agreement reached in Egypt will bring a permanent end to the conflict.
He said he had narrowly escaped death twice during the war, and that normal life for him and his family had been destroyed. His children have not attended school for two years.
If the fighting stops, he said, it will “ease immense suffering.”
“With God’s help,” he added, “this announcement means the war won’t return.”