Israeli students headed to schools that had been shuttered by the fighting with Iran, some of them used as bomb shelters. Iran’s internet services, which the authorities had sharply curbed during nearly two weeks of war, were coming back on Wednesday.
In both countries, people took the first tentative steps to return to normalcy as a cease-fire held for a second day. Some were still haunted by the terrifying moments of the brief but intense war.
Israelis were heading back to their offices after days of absences when the military had ordered nonessential workers to stay home, while residents of Tehran, who had fled intense Israeli bombardments on the Iranian capital, began returning home.
In Iran, fears swirled over whether the war would be followed by a harsh government crackdown on critics in an effort to reassert control over the country.
“My family and I fear both the war and the cease-fire equally,” said Maryam, 35. The reason, she said: “We know that after a cease-fire, we’ll be left with humiliated, vengeful mullahs seeking retribution.”
Maryam, speaking from her Caspian Sea hometown, Bandar Anzali, said it was still crowded there with those who had fled the bombings in Tehran. She and other Iranians who spoke to The New York Times on Wednesday asked to be identified by their first names to avoid drawing the attention of the authorities.
Israel and Iran have each declared victory, though doubts hung over their claims.
Israel killed a number of Iranian security chiefs and, joined by the United States, inflicted damage on a string of nuclear sites. More than 600 people were killed in the Israeli attacks and thousands wounded, according to the Iranian health ministry.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, hailed the Israeli offensive as “a great victory in the campaign against the enemy who sought our destruction.” But for Israel and its American allies, questions were already emerging whether the war had dealt a decisive blow to Iran’s ability to produce a nuclear weapon, or only set it back a short time.
Asal, a 21-year-old Iranian woman who works in marketing, said some aspects of life were reverting back to prewar rhythms. Traffic clogs the roads as many return to work. But, she said, even the sound of a motorcycle now makes her flinch, reminding her of missiles.
“We’re left wondering what happens next to us,” Asal said. The regime, she said, has suffered a blow not only to its nuclear program but to its credibility, and reputation.
“Their reckless pride has set us back a century,” she said.
In Jerusalem, Israelis were trickling back to restaurants on Wednesday, and some who had fled their homes were making their way back. Some had left apartments in major cities like Tel Aviv and Haifa — which were hit by frequent Iranian missile barrages — for friends and relatives’ homes.
Many in Israel supported the war with Iran, which they viewed as a justifiable pre-emptive attack to prevent an enemy from developing nuclear weapons. Nevertheless, they were still shaken by the nightly missile barrages.
Ido Emanuel, 30, who owns a coffee shop on Jerusalem’s normally bustling Azza Street, recalled shepherding customers to bomb shelters after receiving alerts warning of incoming Iranian fire. Those attacks ended on Tuesday, but some of his employees were still anxious about coming to work, waiting to see whether the cease-fire would hold, he said.
“People can enter the mind-set of a state of emergency much more easily than they leave it,” Mr. Emanuel said.
At least 28 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured during Iranian counterattacks since the Israeli operation began on Jun. 13, according to the Israeli government. Roughly 15,000 people were evacuated from homes damaged or destroyed in the missile barrages, the military said.
Though the war with Iran may be over, the protracted conflict in Gaza — which has continued for more than 20 months with no end in sight — still hangs over the country. On Wednesday morning, Israelis awoke to the news that seven Israeli soldiers had been killed in Gaza.
“If anyone was in euphoria over the war, and the Israeli victory — if it could be called that — we got a real slap in the face,” said Mr. Emanuel. “There’s no euphoria to be had.”
Some Israelis were picking up the pieces.
Eldad Albow said he was still displaced, along with his wife and daughters, after an Iranian missile damaged his apartment in the central city of Bat Yam.
Mr. Albow said neither of his children went to their school on Wednesday; it was damaged during the war. The authorities have put the family up in a hotel for the next few weeks while they look for new housing.
“We aren’t yet in that situation of freedom that everyone else is already back to,” he said.
Vivian Yeecontributed reporting from Berlin.
Aaron Boxerman is a Times reporter covering Israel and Gaza. He is based in Jerusalem.
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