‘Joy beyond measure’: Celebrations in Gaza as long-awaited ceasefire begins | Israel-Palestine conflict news

Celebrations broke out across the Gaza Strip after a long awaited cease fire it came into effect after 15 months of war that turned much of the coastal Palestinian enclave into rubble.

The ceasefire came into force at 11:15 local time (09:15 GMT) on Sunday after Hamas gave a list of three female prisoners to be released as part of the deal to Israel through mediators.

“My joy is beyond measure,” said Om Salah, a resident of Gaza.

“From the moment they announced the ceasefire, I quickly packed all my things because I am ready to go to Gaza City. My children are extremely happy to go see our families, relatives and our lands “, he told Al Jazeera.

“Here, we are still scared and worried, but at home we will be very happy, and joy will return to our lives.”

A young Palestinian said, “Everyone is happy, especially the children.”

“Hopefully, the Israelis will not violate it (ceasefire) in the next few days,” he told Al Jazeera.

He said that all he wanted to do now was complete his education. “There were a lot of dreams destroyed during this genocide.”

“We Made It Alive”

Health workers and rescuers from Gaza were also seen celebrating in the streets. Videos shared online, and verified by Al Jazeera, showed several civil defense teams chanting and holding up victory signs.

Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital in Deir el-Balah, said “there have been no reported violations since the ceasefire came into force” .

“There are no more bombs, no more fighter jets, no more drones. The only sound of gunfire we hear is of celebrations in the streets – gunfire and fireworks have been frequent,” he said.

Before the ceasefire goes into effect, Israeli forces killed at least 19 more Palestinians and injured dozens more on Sunday, bringing the total number of dead in the Genocide of 15 months to nearly 47,000. Palestinian and rights groups say the actual number could be much higher.

At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the attacks led by Hamas on October 7, 2023, and about 250 were taken prisoner.

Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting on Khan Younis, said Palestinians from the southern city of Rafah described the destruction caused by Israel there as “massive”.

“They didn’t even realize where their quarters were,” he said.

“In any case, people are very happy. You see everyone smiling, you see everyone singing, and most Palestinians say, ‘We made it out of this war alive.’

“Uncertainty and Anxiety”

Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud said that in the courtyard of the hospital where he was reporting, Palestinian families had begun to dismantle their tents and return to their homes they were forced to evacuate due to the relentless Israeli bombardment.

“What we see here is families excitedly gathering their belongings – everything they managed to collect during their stay in the hospital. There is so much excitement on their faces as they leave the hospital doors,” he added.

Anwar, a displaced Palestinian man living in Khan Younis who did not give his last name, said he hoped to return to Rafah despite reports that his home had been destroyed.

“I will go there and see to find a place where I can set up a tent to live with my family of eight,” he told Al Jazeera. “I need to go back to my city. I need to go back to where I was born.”

Anwar said the months of war were like a “nightmare”. “It was literally a nightmare, as if we (were) dreaming and then we realized it again,” Anwar said.

He said he and his family were living in flimsy tents without enough food or water, and that the prices of goods were “scarily high”.

Other displaced people said they returned home only to find the scale of destruction making it difficult to even set up temporary shelter.

Mahmoud Anwar Abu-Salem, a Palestinian displaced from northern Gaza, spoke to Al Jazeera after his return to his area after spending three months in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City.

“The house, the whole thing, was reduced to rubble. Fifty members of my family will live in the streets,” he said, explaining that before the war, the five-story building housed many of his relatives.

“The schools are also destroyed. There is no life,” said Abu Salem. “Even the mosque was targeted and destroyed. It is also difficult to set up a tent there.”

Nour Saqqa, a Palestinian woman displaced from Gaza City, said she felt an “overwhelming rush of emotions”.

“We have not been able to feel completely relieved, not only because of how stressful these 15 months have been, but also because of the ceasefire itself – the fact that it was fragmented rather than announced and implemented all at once,” Saqqa. he told Al Jazeera in Rafah.

Saqqa said the fact that she and other Palestinians from Gaza City have not yet been allowed to return to their homes in the first phase of the ceasefire is causing the population “even more psychological stress.”

“We are constantly going through this uncertainty and anxiety that even this relief is not completely full.”