Ceasefire doesn’t bring ‘complete relief’ after 15 months of stress: Displaced Palestinian
Nour Saqqa, a displaced Palestinian woman from Gaza City, says she feels an “overwhelming mixture of emotions”.
“We haven’t been able to feel completely relieved, not only because of how stressful these 15 months have been, but also due to the ceasefire itself – the fact that it has been fragmented rather than announced and implemented all at once,” Saqqa told Al Jazeera in Rafah.
Saqqa also said the fact she and other Palestinians from Gaza City are still not allowed to return to their homes in the first phase of the ceasefire is causing the population “even more psychological stress”.
“We’re constantly living through this uncertainty and anxiety that even this relief is not completely full.”
‘The nightmare of death and starvation is over’
Thousands of Palestinians took to the streets across Gaza as a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began, some in celebration and many rushing back to see what remained of their bombarded homes.
“I feel like at last I found some water to drink after getting lost in the desert for 15 months. I feel alive again,” said Aya, a displaced woman from northern Gaza City who sheltered in central Deir el-Balah for more than a year.
“We are now waiting for the day we head back to our home in Gaza City. Damaged or not, it doesn’t matter, the nightmare of death and starvation is over.”
Gaza City resident Ahmed Abu Ayham, 40, who sheltered with his family in southern Khan Younis, said the scene of destruction at his home city was “dreadful”, adding while the ceasefire may have spared lives it’s no time for celebrations.
“We are in pain, deep pain, and it is time that we hug one another and cry,” Abu Ayham said.
‘There is no life at all’: Displaced Palestinian returns to ruins
Mahmoud Anwar Abu-Salem, a displaced Palestinian from northern Gaza, has spoken to Al Jazeera following his return to his area after spending three months in Gaza City’s Shati refugee camp.
“The house, the whole thing, was reduced to rubble. Fifty people of my family will live in the streets,” he said, explaining that before the war, the five-floor building housed many of his relatives.
“Schools have also been destroyed. There is no life at all,” Abu Salem said. “Even the mosque was hit and destroyed. It is even difficult to set up a tent here.”
‘In every single corner, wherever you look, you find destruction’
Once the ceasefire implementation took place earlier today, civilians started to celebrate.
There were joyful scenes, with people emerging from evacuation shelters to open spaces and public squares and celebrating the end of the bloodshed that has been ongoing for more than 15 months.
Families displaced from the eastern areas of Gaza and from areas such as Rafah started to return to their homes to check what’s been left of them.
But the destruction has been pervasive; in every single corner, wherever you turn, you only find devastation and destruction. Families have been displaying resilience, saying they will dismantle the tents they have been living in and will rebuild their houses.
But people are also being cautious, as there is a growing sense of scepticism regarding this fragile ceasefire.
Displaced Palestinians walk past rubble as they attempt to return to their homes
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