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Amid continuing airstrikes, bitter cold and news of delays, millions in Gaza were waiting anxiously on Thursday for confirmation that the ceasefire-for-hostages deal between Hamas and Israel was going ahead.
Many spoke of their fear that hopes of a new beginning after a 15-month conflict might be dashed. The war has killed many tens of thousands in the territory and reduced swathes of it to ruins.
“So far, the news is tense about the deal … so we follow the news 24 hours a day. The deal’s failure is possible, because the Israelis do not want Gaza and its people to rest and breathe,” said Muhammad al-Hebbil, 37, who was displaced early in the war from his home in the northern town of Beit Lahiya to Gaza City.
The agreement announced by Qatar on Wednesday followed months of fruitless negotiations and, if finalised, would pause hostilities one day before the inauguration of the US president-elect, Donald Trump, on Monday.
Reports that Israel had accused Hamas of reneging on parts of the deal, and that the Israeli cabinet had not yet met to ratify the agreement increased concerns on Thursday.
“Now everyone wishes to go to sleep and wake up on Sunday, when the fighting has stopped. The waiting is very difficult,” Hebbil said.
Palestinians in Gaza reported heavy Israeli bombardment. In previous conflicts in the territory, both sides have stepped up military operations in the final hours before ceasefires as a way to project strength and inflict last-minute losses on their enemy.
Hebbil, who is living in a tent inside the Yarmouk sports stadium in Gaza City, said he had witnessed the aftermath of one attack, describing “a very difficult and painful sight”.
“Since the deal was agreed, the bombing has not stopped around us,” Hebbil said. “I saw a young man with the body of his brother who died in targeting last evening. He was screaming and saying to him, ‘Why did you go now? I was coming to tell you that the war is over.’”
Officials in Gaza said nearly 80 had been killed since the truce was announced on Wednesday, bringing the overall total in the Israeli offensive to more than 46,700, mostly civilians.
“Yesterday [Wednesday] was a bloody day, and today is bloodier,” said Zaher al-Wahedi, the head of the health ministry’s registration department.
The war was triggered by the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,200 people, most of them civilians. Militants also took 251 people hostage, 94 of whom are still being held in Gaza, including 34 that the Israeli military says are dead.
Saeed Alloush, who lives in north Gaza, said he and his loved ones were “waiting for the truce and were happy”, until overnight strikes killed his relatives. “It was the happiest night since October 7,” he said, until “we received the news of the martyrdom of 40 people from the Alloush family”.
Recent low night temperatures and a lack of shelter have combined to deepen the sense of foreboding. Few in Gaza have gas, electricity or even firewood to warm themselves.
Ashraf Ahmed Fuaad, 49, said he was sitting in Khan Younis in the south of Gaza with his family “in the bitter cold”.
“We are waiting for news of the official ceasefire as if we are waiting for the moon to rise, dispelling the darkness of the night, where there is no electricity or life,” the father of three said. “I hope the ceasefire will finally come true, and that peace will prevail not only in Gaza but across the Middle East as well.”
Humanitarian agencies are calling for a “flood of aid” after a ceasefire. There are acute shortages of medicine, fuel, food and other basic necessities throughout Gaza.
The conflict has displaced about 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, many of whom are at risk of famine. Tented camps now stretch across what were once beaches and fields. Almost all of the territory’s infrastructure – power cables, sewers, water pipes – has been destroyed, along with much of its healthcare system. Aid workers describe some former busy cities as “moonscapes”.
“We are waiting for the opening of the crossings [from Egypt and Israel into Gaza] and the entry of essentials for life. Finally, the fear, anxiety and terror that we have been living through will come to an end,” Fuaad said.
It is still unclear who will run Gaza after the end of the war, and who might pay for the reconstruction. Just clearing Gaza’s rubble would take a fleet of 100 lorries 15 years to clear Gaza and cost between $500m (£394m) and $600m, a UN assessment earlier this year found. Experts say full reconstruction could take 30 or more years.
Many in Gaza fear that Israel will resume hostilities when the first of the three phases of the ceasefire ends.
“I am still not optimistic, and I feel that we will be betrayed and the ceasefire will be cancelled, even after signing the deal,” said Eman, a 19-year-old medical student from the Jabaliya neighbourhood, which has seen a blockade and fierce bombardment over recent months.
“I am very scared that after Israel got their prisoners, the war would return. I am afraid that it will fail. I hope with all my heart, pray to Allah sincerely that it will succeed.”
