Palestinians Amid fear and grief, spark of hope grows in devastated territory

Hopes rose across Gaza yesterday that the war that has devastated the territory, killing well over 46,000 people and displacing millions, was over at last.

- Malak A Tantesh, Jason Burke

Amid widespread reports that Hamas and Israel were in the "final stages" of a ceasefire agreement, residents of the territory expressed mixed emotions: hope and fear for the future but pain and grief for the past 15 months.

"I am optimistic and very happy...[but] I wish I could go back to Rafah, to my life and my school," said Ibrahim al-Aker, an 11-year-old from Rafah, who has been displaced seven times, lost 70 members of his family and was badly injured by a bullet earlier this year.

Muhammad al-Hallaq, 31, said he was "living in an atmosphere of joy, mixed with feelings of fear".

Since Israel's onslaught on Gaza began after the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks, there has been only one pause in the 15-month conflict - a 10-day truce in November 2023 - and previous reports that a ceasefire deal was close have repeatedly proved premature.

"I am really worried that I will be disappointed this time again, like so many times," said Hallaq, who is from Gaza City's al-Daraj neighbourhood.

Hallaq said his apartment had been badly damaged and his phone store destroyed. He added: "Gaza is now a devastation, it has become uninhabitable... but I will stay... I will not leave, and I will not accept resettlement anywhere else. I hope peace will prevail here and that this grief will end soon."

The United States, Egypt and Qatar have spent the past year trying to mediate a deal which would stop the fighting, allow desperately needed aid to reach Gaza and secure the release of dozens of hostages captured by Hamas in its surprise attack into Israel in which about 1,200 were killed, mostly civilians. About 100 hostages are still held inside Gaza, and Israeli officials believe at least a third of them are now dead.