Palestinians celebrate ceasefire deal – but fear confronting grief
Palestinians in Gaza celebrated the ceasefire and hostage release agreement, but many are afraid to face the pain of two years of war.
Umm Hassan, 38, who lost her 16-year-old son during the war, told the BBC: “There was both joy and pain when we heard the news of the ceasefire this morning.”
“Both young people and old people started shouting with joy,” he said. “And those who lost their loved ones began to remember them and wonder how we would ever get home without them.”
“Every person who loses someone feels this pain deeply and wonders how to return home.”
The deal, announced by US President Donald Trump and which still needs to be accepted by Israel’s war cabinet, will provide for the release of 20 living hostages and the bodies of 28 dead hostages in exchange for 250 Palestinian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment in Israeli prisons and 1,700 detainees from Gaza.
This is the first phase of a 20-point peace plan that could lead to an end to the war; but the next stages still need to be negotiated.
“It’s us civilians who are suffering, really suffering,” Daniel Abu Tabeekh from Jabalia refugee camp told the BBC.
“The groups do not feel our pain. Leaders sitting comfortably abroad have no idea of the suffering we are suffering here in Gaza.”
“I don’t have a home,” he said. “I’ve been living on the streets for a year and a half.”
Israel launched the war in Gaza in response to Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, in which approximately 1,200 people, mostly Israeli civilians, were killed and 251 people were taken hostage.
More than 67,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in Israeli attacks, according to the region’s Hamas-run health ministry. Its figures are considered reliable by the UN and other international organizations.
According to the UN, more than 90 percent of housing in Gaza was damaged or destroyed.
“God rewarded us for our patience,” said Umm Nader Kloub from northern Gaza, who lost seven relatives, including her sons, during the war.
“I hope it helps [the negotiators] “Let us all return to our homes and let the hostages return safely,” he said. “We do not want war.”
Moussa, a doctor in Deir Al Balah, in the central Strip, said: “We have lost a lot in two years of war. The Gaza Strip has been destroyed. A difficult period still awaits us, but the important thing is that we hope to be safe.”
As news of a possible ceasefire agreement broke over the weekend, the head of the Palestinian mission in the UK, Husam Zomlot, told the BBC: “The worst thing about the last two years is that you cannot allow yourself to grieve, to feel the deep sadness and to process your human emotions as you lose your loved ones, your relatives, your friends, your neighbours.”
“Because your main focus is trying to stop what’s going on.”
He added: “As our people and our families were being killed, the feeling was: How do you stop this? How do you bury your dead, how do you care for your wounded?
“But after the event, which I hope will happen very soon, the real feeling will be grief, mourning and a deep, deep sense of loss. Because what we have lost is so great.”
