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On the early hours of Thursday, there was little joy in Gaza. Word of the pending peace agreement had traveled swiftly over the battered land during the night, marked by occasional shots fired into the sky in celebration, but as morning came the atmosphere turned to apprehensive waiting.

“Everyone is still afraid,” said a young woman in her twenties based in the al-Mawasi area, the cramped and unsanitary shoreline zone where much of the population has sought shelter under temporary shelters and plastic shacks.

“We look forward to a formal declaration and real guarantees to reopen the border passages, allowing food deliveries, and ceasing the bloodshed, ruin and population transfers.”

Close by, Abbas Hassouna, 64 noted that his relatives were hoping for a formal proclamation and solid commitments for opening the crossings, bringing in food, and ceasing the slaughter, demolition and eviction”.

“Once these developments occur, at that point we will fully accept them. But for now, apprehension persists. They could backtrack suddenly or break the agreement as before leaving us trapped within the perpetual loop without any improvement except more suffering,” Hassouna commented, who is from northern Gaza but has been displaced on multiple occasions.

Mixed Emotions Among Locals

Ola al-Nazli, 47 mentioned she discovered of the ceasefire via local residents within the al-Mawasi district. “I was uncertain how to feel, if I should celebrate or sorrowful. We have experienced this on numerous prior occasions, and on each occasion our hopes were dashed once more, consequently this occasion fear and caution have reached new heights,” Nazli stated, who was forced to leave her dwelling in the urban center because of the recent armed conflict in that area.

“Everyone lives in tents which offer little protection from the cold or amid explosions. Individuals with savings or employment lost everything. This explains why any joy we feel is accompanied by pain and fear. I simply desire that we might exist in safety, not hear the sound of bombs, not having to relocate, and that border passages will open soon,” said Nazli.

Humanitarian Preparations Underway

Relief groups said they were preparing to “flood” Gaza with sustenance and necessary items. The 20-point plan ensures a boost to relief efforts. The head of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, explained his team stood ready to increase activities to meet the dire health needs throughout the territory, and assist recovery of the ruined healthcare network”.

The international body for Palestinian refugees, hailed the agreement as major respite, and said it possessed adequate stored provisions external to the region to provide for the battered region’s 2.3 million residents for the coming three months. Although additional assistance has arrived in the region over past weeks, quantities are still highly deficient, humanitarian workers said.

Relief and Concern Within Evacuated Residents

A man named Jihad al-Hilu received information of the ceasefire on a radio as he sat in his shelter in al-Mawasi. “At that moment, I sensed a blend of joy and relief, as if some hope came back to my spirit following an extended period. We anxiously awaited this moment, for the blood to stop and for the slaughter that have destroyed numerous families to finish,” Hilu, 33 explained.

“At the same time, prevails substantial anxiety residing inside us. We fear that this truce may prove transient and that conflict could return as it did before.”

There are also broad anxieties about what peace might mean for the region, in which over ninety percent of homes have experienced ruin or demolished, virtually all public works destroyed and where many people experience daily hunger. Over sixty-seven thousand Palestinians primarily non-combatants have lost their lives during military operations initiated following the armed incursion in October 2023, which killed 1,200 also mostly civilians and saw 251 taken hostage by militants.

“My primary concern above all else is the deficiency of protection. Hunger can be endured, yet insecurity is the real disaster. I fear that the region may transform into a zone of turmoil controlled by criminal groups and armed factions in place of legal systems.”

Ongoing Developments

Observers reported armed units fired tank shells to deter residents going back to northern areas of the territory on Thursday morning however stated absence of combat noises or airstrikes.

Nadra Hamadeh, whose sister, brother-in-law, two family members and son in law were killed in the war, mentioned her aspiration to come back from al-Mawasi to northern Gaza at the earliest opportunity to check on her home, which she assumes experienced destruction yet remains standing.

“There is deep sorrow for those who lost their families and children and homes … Regarding our situation, we look forward to revisiting our dwelling which we had to evacuate. The emotion continues like our spirits were taken from our bodies when we left,” Hamadeh in her fifties expressed.

“We desire that conflict concludes,