the hope and joy of these Palestinians who celebrate the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas

In Gaza, the Palestinians are exultant. After 15 months of war and more than 46 000 Gazans killed, according to the Hamas health ministry, this ceasefire accepted by Israel and Hamas, Wednesday January 15 seemed unexpected to them. This agreement, which is due to come into force on Sunday, puts an end to a year and a half into the war triggered by a Hamas terrorist attack against Israel on October 7, 2023.

Scenes of jubilation took place Wednesday evening in front of hospitals in Gaza. A crowd of Palestinians, who usually welcomed the dead and wounded, celebrated this ceasefire agreement. Smiles replaced tears.

Some Gazans, like Baraa, cannot contain their joy: “We are going to clean up the debris and rebuild Gaza which will be even more beautiful than before. I am with a little girl, she is the daughter of a martyr. Here there are young people, some not so young, but we are all going start rebuilding because Gaza is within us. We are the ones who endured this war, the ones who persevered. Nothing is owed to anyone, no leader, no country.

There are songs, a lot of emotions. Gazan journalists who, live on television, remove their bulletproof vests. Jennah, a resident of Deir al Balah, thinks above all of the loved ones she will be able to find: “We are happy, but I have missed my children for a year and four months already… They are in the south of Gaza. Other of my children were killed, they are martyrs. I will not see them again . I’m going to organize a reunion, a moment of condolences.”

“Although I am relieved that there is a ceasefire, I am overwhelmed with sadness at having lost my children and my home.”

On the spot, all these Gazans know it: this is only a first step. That of the bombings which they hope will soon be over.

For the moment, there are still drones in the sky and many admit, on the phone, to being lost, distraught and not knowing whether to really believe it. “I want to cry, but I don’t have enough tearsconfides Fadi, doctor. Forty million seconds passed, and for what? And with every second that passed, our hearts were torn a little more in pain and sadness to see what we suffered in Gaza.”

Because there will also be the horror of the discovery, that of seeing the extent of the damage and this total destruction of the Gaza Strip.