Celebrations have erupted throughout the Gaza Strip after a much-awaited ceasefire got here into impact following 15 months of battle that turned a lot of the coastal Palestinian enclave to rubble.
The ceasefire got here into impact at 11:15am native time (09:15 GMT) on Sunday after Hamas handed over an inventory of three female captives to be launched as a part of the deal to Israel by way of mediators.
“My pleasure is past measure,” mentioned Gaza resident Om Salah.
“From the second they introduced the ceasefire, I rapidly packed all my issues as a result of I’m able to go to Gaza Metropolis. My youngsters are extraordinarily glad to go and see our households, kinfolk and our lands,” she instructed Al Jazeera.
“Right here, we’re at all times scared and apprehensive, however again house we will probably be very glad, and pleasure will come again to our lives .”
A younger Palestinian man mentioned, “Everyone seems to be glad, notably the youngsters.”
“Hopefully, the Israelis won’t violate it [ceasefire] within the subsequent few days,” he instructed Al Jazeera.
He mentioned all he wished to do now was full his schooling. “There have been a great deal of desires destroyed throughout this genocide.”
Gaza’s well being staff and rescuers have been additionally seen celebrating in the streets. Movies shared on-line, and verified by Al Jazeera, confirmed a number of civil defence groups chanting anthems and elevating victory indicators.
Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from outdoors Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah, mentioned there have been “no violations reported because the ceasefire took impact”.
“There have been no extra bombs, no extra fighter jets, and no extra drones. The one sound of gunfire we hear is from celebrations within the streets – gunshots and fireworks have been frequent,” he mentioned.
Earlier than the ceasefire got here into impact, Israeli forces killed no less than 19 extra Palestinians and wounded dozens of others on Sunday, taking the whole deaths within the 15-month genocide to just about 47,000. Palestinian and rights teams say the precise loss of life toll could possibly be a lot increased.
No less than 1,139 folks have been killed in Israel through the Hamas-led assaults on October 7, 2023, and about 250 have been taken captive.
‘Want to return’
Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud reported that within the hospital courtyard the place he was reporting from, Palestinian households had began to dismantle their tents and head again to their houses they have been pressured to evacuate as a consequence of relentless Israeli bombings.
“What we’re witnessing right here is households excitedly gathering their belongings – no matter they managed to gather throughout their keep on the hospital. There’s a lot pleasure on their faces as they go away the hospital gates,” he added.
Anwar, a displaced Palestinian man residing in Khan Younis who didn’t give his final title, mentioned he hoped to return to Rafah regardless of stories that his house had been destroyed.
“I’ll go there and I’ll see to discover a place the place I can arrange a tent to stay with my eight-member household,” he instructed Al Jazeera. “I would like to return to my metropolis. I would like to return to the place I used to be born.”
Anwar mentioned the months of battle have been like a “nightmare”. “It was actually a nightmare, as if we [were] dreaming after which we received up once more,” Anwar mentioned.
He mentioned he and his household lived in flimsy tents with out sufficient meals or water, and that costs for items have been “scarily excessive”.
Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Khan Younis, mentioned Palestinians from the southern metropolis of Rafah described the destruction there as “huge”. “They didn’t even realise the place their neighbourhoods have been,” she added.
Neverthless, she mentioned folks have been additionally “very glad”.
“You see everybody smiling, you see everybody chanting, and many of the Palestinians are saying, ‘We made it alive out of this battle’,” she added.
