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\u2018Can regain our soul\u2019: Relief and fear in Gaza ahead of Israel truce | Israel-Palestine conflict<\/p>\n
Deir el-Balah and Fukhari, Gaza Strip \u2014<\/strong> After more than six weeks of war, Khaled Loz knows what he wants to do when the truce announced on Wednesday by Israel and Hamas finally comes into effect.<\/p>\n He wants to sleep.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the first thing I want to do. I\u2019m tired of all the continuous bombing,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Since the attack by Hamas fighters on southern Israel on October 7, in which they killed 1,200 people, Israeli aerial bombing and artillery shelling has killed more than 14,000 Palestinians in Gaza, including more than 5,600 children. An estimated 1.7 million people out of Gaza\u2019s population of 2.3 million have been displaced, with many moving from the northern part of the Gaza Strip to the south following warnings from the Israeli military.<\/p>\n But Israel\u2019s bombing has extended to central and southern Gaza too, leaving no part of the enclave safe, with refugee camps, schools and hospitals also attacked.<\/p>\n Now, the declaration of a four-day truce that could come into effect soon is promising the first hope of some respite for Gaza\u2019s people.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can regain our soul a little,\u201d says Loz. \u201cWe want to provide water for our homes, we want goods to enter instead of empty shops where we cannot find what we need.\u201d<\/p>\n But it is also the first opportunity for thousands of families to finally grieve loved ones lost in the bombing. Others are hoping that the pause in fighting allows them to search for missing relatives and friends.<\/p>\n Loz says the home of his mother\u2019s family in Gaza City was bombed. \u201cI don\u2019t know who is left of them, and I don\u2019t know who was martyred. I want to check on my uncle,\u201d he says. \u201cWhere are they, where have they fled to?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to grieve for those we lost. They [Israel] did not give us a chance to express our feelings, even to cry for our friends.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Hamas, the truce will enable the free movement of people from the north of Gaza to the south along Salah al-Din Road, the territory\u2019s main highway. But there is no such guarantee of movement towards the north, where Gaza City is based, so it is unclear whether those like Loz who want to search for missing relatives in the north will be able to make their way there.<\/p>\n Etaf Hussien Musataf al-Jamalan, a father of five children, was displaced from Sheikh Radwan, a district of Gaza City, and was hoping to return to check on his house during the pause in fighting. He says he has \u201cmixed feelings\u201d about the truce.<\/p>\n \u201cWe wanted to check our houses. Maybe grab some supplies or anything,\u201d he says, adding that he is \u201csad\u201d that the truce terms might not allow that. He doesn\u2019t know if his house is still standing \u2014 the United Nations estimates that half of north Gaza\u2019s homes have been damaged or destroyed in the bombing \u2014 but he says he would prefer to \u201clive in a tent in our neighbourhood\u201d than as a displaced person.<\/p>\n Enas al-Jamalah, 12, is also from Sheikh Radwan. Displaced to Deir el-Balah, he and thousands of others sleep outdoors as winter sneaks up on Gaza, with temperatures dropping at night to 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit). His reason to go back home \u2014 if it still stands \u2014 is simple. \u201cWe just want to be warm,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n That longing for home pulls at Fatima Qudayh, too. The 37-year-old from the town of Khuza\u2019a fled to nearby Khan Younis in southern Gaza two days into the war.<\/p>\n Her home in Khuza\u2019a had been damaged in the 2021 war, but she and her family had lovingly rebuilt it. Now, she doesn\u2019t know if it\u2019s still fine, damaged or destroyed. She hopes to visit once the truce comes into effect.<\/p>\n Her six children have barely slept since the war started, she says. \u201cEvery night, there is bombing everywhere. Every day, they ask me about the house. Is it OK? Are their toys OK and their rooms OK?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI tell them I pray that they are OK \u2014 but that the most important thing is that you are OK.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u0627\u0644\u0645\u0635\u062f\u0631<\/a>
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