'The truce is on paper'

Fears over a ceasefire that is close to collapse

- Seham Tantesh William Christou

For two years, Ismail Baba had dreamed of a ceasefire. The father of four had been displaced 11 times during the war in Gaza and was struggling to find adequate food for his children amid a worsening hunger crisis.

When a ceasefire was announced last week, Baba thought he could finally relax. Though his home was still in chaos, at least he knew that his family would not be struck by an Israeli bomb.

The fleeting peace, however, was shattered yesterday morning by a wave of Israeli airstrikes across Gaza, after Israel claimed Hamas militants targeted its troops in southern Gaza.

"I felt the end of the false sense of safety we were clinging to. We had barely started to move freely between areas again, and now we are back to fear and caution," said the 48-year-old from Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza.

Nine days into the ceasefire, Palestinians in Gaza are increasingly worried that the fragile truce could collapse and full-scale war will start anew.