‘I hope peace will prevail’: joy and fear in Gaza amid reports ceasefire is near
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Hamas and Israel ‘in final stages’ of agreement, with Gazans still reeling from fresh deadly airstrikes. Hopes rose across Gaza on Tuesday that the war that has devastated the territory, killing more than 46,000 and displacing millions, was finally over.
![[Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli army strike early.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/30c7eb465ade2403967949298781c3f905fb8842/0_0_8086_4851/master/8086.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Amid widespread reports that Hamas and Israel were in the “final stages” of agreeing a ceasefire agreement, residents of the embattled territory expressed mixed emotions: hope and fear for the future but pain and grief for the past 15 months. “I am optimistic and very happy … [but] I wish I could go back to Rafah, to my life and my school,” said Ibrahim al-Aker, an 11-year-old from Rafah, who has been displaced seven times, lost 70 members of his family and was badly injured by a bullet earlier this year.
Muhammad al-Hallaq, 31, said he was “living in an atmosphere of joy, mixed with feelings of fear.”. Since the war began after the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, there has been only one pause in the 15 month conflict – a 10 day truce in November 2023 – and previous reports that a ceasefire deal was close have repeatedly proved premature.
“I am really worried that I will be disappointed this time again like so many times,” said Hallaq, from Gaza City’s al-Daraj neighbourhood. Hallaq said that his apartment had been badly damaged and his phone store destroyed. “Gaza is now a devastation, it has become uninhabitable … but I will stay … I will not leave, and I will not accept resettlement anywhere else. I hope peace will prevail here and that this grief will end soon.”.
