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During the early hours of Thursday, one could observe little joy in Gaza. Word of the pending peace agreement had spread rapidly throughout the war-torn region in the dark hours, marked by occasional shots fired into the sky as a form of jubilation, yet with the arrival of dawn the mood was to apprehensive waiting.

“Everyone is still afraid,” stated a 26-year-old woman in al-Mawasi, the squalid, overcrowded coastal strip where much of the population have taken refuge under temporary shelters and vinyl dwellings.

“We anticipate a public statement and real guarantees to reopen the border passages, bringing in food, and stopping the killing, destruction and population transfers.”

Close by, Abbas Hassouna, 64 noted that his relatives were hoping for an official announcement and real guarantees for opening the crossings, ensuring food arrives, and ceasing the slaughter, demolition and eviction”.

“After witnessing these changes, then we can genuinely trust them. But for now, apprehension persists. They could backtrack without warning or violate the accord similar to past occasions stranding us in the same endless cycle with nothing changing except more suffering,” said Hassouna, originally from Gaza’s northern sector though he has faced expulsion several times.

Mixed Emotions Throughout Locals

A 47-year-old woman called Ola al-Nazli said she had learned regarding the peace deal via local residents in the al-Mawasi zone. “I was uncertain about my emotions, if I should celebrate or mournful. We have experienced this repeatedly in the past, and on each occasion we faced disillusionment anew, therefore now anxiety and prudence have reached new heights,” said Nazli, who had to abandon her residence in Gaza City by the recent Israeli offensive there.

“Everyone lives in tents that fail to safeguard against low temperatures or amid explosions. Those who had money or occupations suffered complete loss. That is why our relief is combined with pain and fear. I only hope that we might exist securely, not hear the sound of bombs, not having to relocate, and that access points will be accessible quickly,” Nazli added.

Humanitarian Measures Underway

Relief groups stated they were organizing to “flood” Gaza with food and vital provisions. The detailed strategy ensures a surge of aid delivery. The head of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stated the organization was equipped to expand operations to address critical medical requirements throughout the territory, and assist recovery of the devastated medical infrastructure”.

The UN agency serving Palestinian refugees, hailed the agreement as major respite, and stated it had enough food stockpiled beyond the territory to provide for the war-torn area’s over two million people for the coming three months. While increased support has arrived in the region during previous days, quantities are still severely inadequate, aid personnel reported.

Optimism and Worry Throughout Displaced Families

A man named Jihad al-Hilu received information about the peace agreement through a wireless receiver as he sat in his shelter within al-Mawasi. “At that moment, I felt a mix of happiness and comfort, like a glimmer of optimism had returned to my heart following an extended period. We desperately wanted this occasion, for violence to cease and for the atrocities that have destroyed numerous families to conclude,” Hilu, 33 told the Guardian.

“Concurrently, exists significant apprehension present among us. We fear that this truce might be temporary and that conflict may restart like earlier instances.”

Additionally exist widespread concerns about what peace could deliver to the territory, where more than 90% of dwellings have suffered destruction or destroyed, almost all infrastructure obliterated and where numerous residents experience daily hunger. Over sixty-seven thousand Palestinians primarily non-combatants have been killed amid armed conflict launched in the aftermath the armed incursion in October 2023, that resulted in 1,200 deaths also primarily non-combatants with 251 individuals captured by combatants.

“The main anxiety more than anything is the absence of safety. Hunger can be endured, yet insecurity constitutes the true catastrophe. I am concerned that the region may transform into an area of disorder ruled by gangs and militias in place of legal systems.”

Current Situation

Witnesses said Israeli forces launched projectiles to prevent Palestinians going back to northern areas of the region during Thursday’s dawn yet mentioned no sounds of fighting or airstrikes.

A woman called Nadra Hamadeh, her sibling, her relative, two young relatives and another relative were killed in the war, said she hoped to return from al-Mawasi to northern Gaza as soon as possible to inspect her residence, which she assumes experienced destruction but not destroyed.

“My heart is heavy for people who sacrificed their families and children and residences … Concerning our case, we anticipate revisiting our dwelling that we had to leave behind. The emotion continues similar to our essences had been separated from our physical forms during our departure,” Hamadeh, 57 expressed.

“Our aspiration remains that conflict concludes,