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On the dawn of Thursday, there was minimal celebration in Gaza. Reports of the imminent ceasefire had spread rapidly across the devastated territory in the dark hours, marked by occasional shots fired into the sky in celebration, yet with the arrival of dawn the sentiment shifted to tense anticipation.

“People remain frightened,” stated a 26-year-old woman based in the al-Mawasi area, the squalid, overcrowded coastal strip in which a large portion of residents are residing in makeshift tents and vinyl dwellings.

“We anticipate a public statement and real guarantees regarding access points, allowing food deliveries, and ceasing the bloodshed, destruction and forced relocations.”

In the vicinity, Abbas Hassouna, 64 said he and his family were “waiting for an official announcement and dependable pledges to open the transit routes, ensuring food arrives, and ending the fatalities, demolition and displacement”.

“Once these developments occur, at that point we will fully accept them. But for now, apprehension persists. Authorities may withdraw without warning or dishonor the deal like previous instances stranding us in the same endless cycle without any improvement just further agony,” said Hassouna, originally from Gaza’s northern sector but has been displaced on multiple occasions.

Contradictory Sentiments Among Residents

Ola al-Nazli, 47 mentioned she discovered regarding the peace deal through her neighbors within the al-Mawasi district. “I did not know about my emotions, if I should celebrate or sad. We’ve lived through comparable events many times before, and each time we were disappointed again, therefore now anxiety and prudence have intensified,” Nazli revealed, who was compelled to evacuate her home in Gaza City due to the latest military operations in that area.

“Everyone lives in tents that fail to safeguard against low temperatures or during shelling. People possessing resources or work were stripped of all assets. Consequently our happiness is mixed with pain and fear. My sole wish that we might exist securely, without explosive noises, not be forced to move, and that the crossings will reopen shortly,” said Nazli.

Humanitarian Preparations Underway

Humanitarian organizations announced they were getting ready to saturate the territory with food and vital provisions. The comprehensive proposal ensures a boost to humanitarian assistance. The head of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said his agency was equipped to increase activities to address critical medical requirements throughout the territory, and facilitate reconstruction of the ruined healthcare network”.

The United Nations organization dedicated to refugee assistance, welcomed the deal as a “huge relief”, and stated it possessed adequate stored provisions beyond the territory to provide for the battered region’s 2.3m population for the coming three months. Though more aid has reached Gaza during previous days, quantities are still highly deficient, humanitarian workers reported.

Optimism and Worry Throughout Displaced Families

Jihad al-Hilu learned about the development of the ceasefire on a radio while residing in his temporary dwelling located in the al-Mawasi area. “At that moment, I sensed a blend of elation and respite, like a glimmer of optimism had returned to my heart subsequent to prolonged anticipation. We anxiously awaited this point in time, for killings to end and for the massacres that have broken so many homes to conclude,” Hilu in his thirties told the Guardian.

“Concurrently, prevails substantial anxiety residing inside us. We fear that this ceasefire may prove transient and that conflict might resume like earlier instances.”

There are also widespread concerns about what peace might mean for the region, in which over ninety percent of residences have been damaged or destroyed, almost all infrastructure obliterated and where many people face regular food shortages. Approximately 67,000 individuals overwhelmingly ordinary citizens have been killed during military operations launched in the aftermath the militant attack in the autumn of 2023, that resulted in 1,200 deaths also mostly civilians with 251 individuals captured by combatants.

“What worries me more than anything is the lack of security. Starvation is tolerable, yet insecurity represents the actual calamity. I fear that the region may transform into a place of chaos ruled by gangs and armed factions in place of legal systems.”

Current Situation

Observers reported armed units launched projectiles to prevent Palestinians returning to northern parts of the territory during Thursday’s dawn but reported absence of combat noises or airstrikes.

A resident named Nadra Hamadeh, her sibling, brother-in-law, two nieces and another relative perished during the conflict, expressed her desire to come back from al-Mawasi to Gaza’s northern part at the earliest opportunity to check on her home, which she believes to be damaged yet remains standing.

“I feel profound sadness for those who lost their relatives and offspring and properties … As for us, we hope for going back to our residence that we were forced to abandon. The emotion continues as if our souls were extracted from our beings when we left,” Hamadeh in her fifties commented.

“Our aspiration remains that the war ends,