'Worn out from the constant fear of dying,' Gazans await cease-fire and a chance to rebuild

I can’t wait to see this moment become real,

said al-Gharabli (48), a tailor

I’ll deeply miss those gatherings,

al-Sheikh said

It’s impossible to describe this mix of relief and grief,

she said

This time, it feels like we’re truly going home,

she said

We’ll hug, we’ll cry and we’ll thank God over and over for surviving this war,

she said

No one truly understands the weight of the final moments before the end of a war,

wrote Ahmad Bassiouni, a young Palestinian from Gaza City, in a post on Facebook at the beginning of the week

After 15 months of destruction, killing, genocide and unprecedented crimes, the resistance stands tall, raising its head, and raising the head of the entire Palestinian people,

he told AFP

I support Israel destroying and killing every last member of Hamas."

The new administration's attitude is summed up by Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary-designate, telling his confirmation hearing that

I can’t believe that this nightmare of more than a year is finally coming to an end. We have lost so many people, we’ve lost everything,

said Randa Sameeh, a 45-year-old displaced from Gaza City to the Nuseirat Camp in the centre of the territory

I feel joy, despite everything we’ve lost.”

In Gaza City, 27-year-old Abdul Karim said

I can’t believe I will finally see my wife and two children again,

he added

I swear to God I won’t return to Gaza. I’m so tired and fed up,

he said from Deir el-Balah, where he sleeps with his family inside a small crowded tent

What I realised in this war is that your home, your homeland and your children are all you have,

she told Al Jazeera

I want to leave Gaza and just go anywhere else,

he told Al Jazeera

I have mixed feelings … but I pray to God that we can return to our normal lives without feeling insecure,

said Mohamed Abu Rai, a 47-year-old medic, from his office in Deir el-Balah

We need to go back eventually, you know?”

Rayyes told Al Jazeera

He was a great and very kind teacher. When he died, it really affected me and it still hurts until now,

Rayyes told Al Jazeera via phone from Cairo, Egypt, where she has been living with her husband and three children since last year

There has been so much destruction and we are starting from zero, again. Always rebuilding our communities steals so much time from our lives. Each day we lose, we don’t get back,

he told Al Jazeera

As soon as there is a ceasefire, I will return and kiss my land in Beit Hanoon in north Gaza,

said Umm Mohamed, a 66-year-old woman who lost two of her 10 children when an Israeli bomb fell on her home in December 2023

Bilal was really one of the best people in the world,

she added