Nesreen Hamad, a mother of three, was anxiously waiting for news from her husband, who had made the arduous journey to Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood. She had stayed behind in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, where her family had been displaced.
“My husband went to our home in Sheikh Radwan today [Sunday]. We knew it had been bombed, but seeing it with our own eyes, that made it even more painful,” Hamad told DW by phone. Their house had been destroyed, and much of the neighborhood had become unrecognizable.
Her husband was among the after Israel announced a ceasefire at midday on Friday. Since then, videos show a steady stream of people — many on foot — making their way north along Gaza’s coastal road.
A fragile ceasefire deal
Last week, following fast-paced, indirect negotiations, Gaza-based militant group agreed to a 20-point plan proposed by the United States. The deal aims to bring an end to the two-year war between Israel and Hamas.
Many of the more contentious issues in the ambitious US plan have yet to be discussed in detail. As part of the first phase, Hamas released 20 remaining living hostages on Monday, while Israel is to free nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, many of whom have been held without charge. The bodies of the remaining 28 dead hostages are also due to be handed over.
The war began on October 7, 2023, when — which is considered a terrorist organization by the US, the EU and others — launched attacks on several Israeli villages, military bases and the Nova music festival near the Gaza Strip. Around 1,200 people were killed, with 251 taken back to Gaza as hostages, according to Israeli authorities.
The war ‘killed everything inside us’
Although Hamad said she was relieved that the Israeli bombing stopped, losing her home was another painful chapter in two years of displacement and survival. She said her family had been displaced 17 times.
“The war is over, thank God, but only after it killed everything inside us. It killed friends, relatives, and neighbors. It destroyed Gaza. It turned us into psychological wrecks. It planted diseases in us — caused by a lack of medicine, displacement, and the polluted environment,” Hamad said. “I hope that war never returns and that we never have to experience fear again.”
The United Nations estimates that around two-thirds of Gaza’s buildings have been damaged or destroyed since the beginning of the war. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Authority reports that more than 67,000 people — mostly civilians — have been killed during the two-year-long war. The UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory has referred to the war as a genocide — an allegation Israel firmly denies.
‘Israel has created enemies for many years to come’
Mahmoud Afif, a father of six, was among those who stayed in Gaza City even as the Israeli military intensified its operations to seize and occupy it. He said he had no money for transport or accommodation in the south.
“I was moving between three different locations in western Gaza City, and thank God, none of my children were killed, and I am still alive,” he said on the phone from Gaza City.
His home in Shijaiyah, however, has been leveled.
“I lost my home, the one I worked tirelessly on all my life to build with my brothers, all because of Hamas and Israel,” he said. “Everything that happened in Gaza over the past two years achieved nothing. On the contrary, it pushed Gaza backwards by years, Israel has created enemies for many years to come.”
Despite the ceasefire and the Israel Defense Force (IDF) partially withdrawing to an agreed line within the territory as part of the first phase of the agreement, the military maintains control of at least 53% of Gaza, according to Israeli officials. An IDF spokesperson said many areas in the north, east and south remain off-limits and warned that entering them could “endanger your lives.”
Waiting for news from northern Gaza
Faten Lubbad, a young Palestinian woman from Sheikh Radwan, also heard from relatives that her family home had been destroyed. Despite the danger and repeated displacement, the family tried to stay close to their home in northern Gaza City. But by September, the intensifying Israeli assault forced them to flee to Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, where she and her family had taken refuge in a former prison cell.
Lubbad said she no longer sees a future for herself in Gaza.
“Returning to the north is meaningless if we have lost our home — we can live there temporarily until we get our passports issued [and then] escape the hell of Gaza, first to Egypt or any other country,” Lubbad said. “The war in Gaza might be over, but the hell continues.”
“We don’t know what future awaits us,” she added.
Doubts a ceasefire will hold
Anxiety remains high in Gaza, as many residents doubt . In mid-March 2025, Israel broke a previous agreement and resumed its offensive. In recent days, Israel’s prime minister, , has warned that Israel will return to war if Hamas is not disarmed and Gaza is not fully demilitarized.
While the fighting has paused, grief and trauma remain. Emergency services in Gaza say they will use the ceasefire to begin recovering bodies. Thousands are believed to be buried under the rubble of destroyed homes. Others were hastily buried in makeshift graves along the roadside or in backyards, as fighting prevented proper funerals.
Parents like Nesreen Hamad worry about the future. Her children have had no formal education for two years, and large parts of Gaza’s health care system have been destroyed. While the US-brokered agreement states that aid needs to be allowed into Gaza, it remains unclear how much Israel will permit through the crossings.
Who will govern Gaza?
Then there is the political question of who will govern Gaza.
The proposed plan includes the creation of a new technocratic Palestinian administration, overseen by international figures, including US President and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. But many Palestinians say they feel excluded from the decision-making process.
“I do not want Hamas, nor do I want any Palestinian faction,” said Hamad. “Any international body that can govern us and rebuild Gaza again would be welcome.”
This sentiment was echoed by Mahmoud Afif.
“I do not know who will rule Gaza, but I do know that I do not want anyone from the previous era,” he said, referring to Hamas, who violently seized Gaza in 2007 from the Palestinian Authority, which rules in limited parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
“I hope — for the sake of my children — that whoever leads the people will build them a better future,” he said.
Edited by: Jessie Wingard; Rob Mudge
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