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During the dawn of Thursday, people witnessed minimal celebration in Gaza. The news of the approaching truce had spread rapidly over the battered land during the night, with a few gunshots discharged heavenward as a form of jubilation, yet with the arrival of dawn the atmosphere turned to nervous expectation.

“Everyone is still afraid,” said a 26-year-old woman based in the al-Mawasi area, the cramped and unsanitary shoreline zone where much of the population are residing within provisional structures and vinyl dwellings.

“We are waiting for a formal declaration and real guarantees for opening the crossings, bringing in food, and stopping the killing, ruin and displacement.”

Close by, a 64-year-old man named Abbas Hassouna said he and his family were “waiting for a formal proclamation and solid commitments to open the transit routes, ensuring food arrives, and stopping the killing, destruction and eviction”.

“Once these developments occur, then we can genuinely trust them. However currently, anxiety continues. Parties might renege suddenly or break the agreement similar to past occasions and we will remain amid the continuous pattern devoid of progress only additional hardship,” Hassouna commented, who is from northern Gaza but has been displaced several times.

Contradictory Sentiments Within Inhabitants

A 47-year-old woman called Ola al-Nazli explained she heard regarding the peace deal via local residents in the al-Mawasi zone. “I was uncertain about my emotions, whether to be happy or sad. We’ve lived through comparable events on numerous prior occasions, and each time we were disappointed again, consequently this occasion fear and caution have reached new heights,” Nazli revealed, who was compelled to evacuate her dwelling in the urban center because of the recent armed conflict in the city.

“All residents exist under canvas that do not protect against low temperatures or from the bombing. Those who had money or work suffered complete loss. That is why our relief is mixed with pain and fear. I simply desire that we may reside protected, not hear the sound of bombs, not having to relocate, and that the crossings will be accessible quickly,” Nazli concluded.

Humanitarian Preparations Ongoing

Humanitarian organizations announced they were getting ready to inundate Gaza with sustenance and vital provisions. The 20-point plan ensures a boost to humanitarian assistance. The leader of the global health agency, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said his agency stood ready to expand operations to address critical medical requirements of patients across Gaza, and to support rehabilitation of the devastated medical infrastructure”.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, welcomed the deal as major respite, and stated it had enough food stockpiled external to the region to sustain the battered region’s 2.3m population for the coming three months. While increased support has reached Gaza in recent weeks, amounts remain severely inadequate, aid personnel reported.

Hope and Anxiety Among Displaced Families

A man named Jihad al-Hilu heard the news regarding the truce via radio broadcast while sitting in his tent within al-Mawasi. “In that instant, I experienced a combination of elation and respite, similar to a spark of hope reentered my soul subsequent to prolonged anticipation. We anxiously awaited this point in time, for killings to end and for the slaughter that have broken so many homes to conclude,” Hilu in his thirties explained.

“Simultaneously, prevails substantial anxiety that lives within us. We fear that this peace arrangement could be short-lived and that hostilities may restart like earlier instances.”

There are also widespread concerns regarding what tranquility might mean for the region, where more than 90% of dwellings have experienced ruin or leveled, virtually all public works devastated and where numerous residents experience daily hunger. More than 67,000 Palestinians mostly civilians have been killed during military operations initiated following of the Hamas raid in October 2023, causing approximately 1,200 fatalities also mostly civilians with 251 individuals captured by combatants.

“My primary concern beyond other issues is the lack of security. Food deprivation is manageable, yet insecurity is the real disaster. I am concerned that the region may transform into a place of chaos ruled by gangs and militias rather than proper governance.”

Current Situation

Observers reported military personnel discharged artillery to deter residents going back to northern areas of the region on Thursday morning yet mentioned lack of battle sounds or airstrikes.

A resident named Nadra Hamadeh, her sibling, brother-in-law, two young relatives and her daughter’s husband lost their lives in hostilities, expressed her desire to return from al-Mawasi to Gaza’s northern part quickly to inspect her residence, that she thinks to be damaged though not completely ruined.

“My heart is heavy for people who sacrificed their relatives and offspring and residences … As for us, we hope for returning to our home that we were forced to abandon. The emotion continues as if our souls were extracted from our beings during our departure,” the 57-year-old Hamadeh commented.

“Our aspiration remains that conflict concludes,