‘We have lost many’: Gaza carefully waits for an end to the fighting as the bombardment continues | Israel-Palestine Conflicts News

Deir el-Balah, Gaza Strip, Palestine – Palestinians in the Gaza Strip woke up on Thursday to the sound of renewed shelling, adding fear to the joy they felt when they heard news of an agreement between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas the day before.

They hope the announcement will mark the end of Israel’s 15-month war, which has left more than 46,700 Palestinians dead and thousands more missing. But their memories of the war will not fade soon.

In Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, many people were displaced after fleeing their homes after Israeli attacks or Israeli orders to leave or face shelling.

They struggled to survive. Many have lost loved ones and feel lucky to be alive. But what will come next is still unknown. And with the destruction of Gaza evident and Israel seemingly unwilling to leave the area alone, many pitfalls lie ahead.

Al Jazeera spoke to people in Deir el-Balah a day after Wednesday’s announcement of a ceasefire as they await its implementation on Sunday. Here’s what they had to say:

More trauma to come

Nahed al-Wer is a psychiatrist who was expelled from the Bureij refugee camp with her family at the start of the war after her home was destroyed. He now works at the Deir el-Balah clinic and also volunteers his time to meet people who need psychological help because of the trauma they went through during the war.

It sounds so good. We are very happy. It feels like Eid. We hope this feeling lasts forever and we see no more bloodshed. We hope we never see you again and never have to go through this experience again. We all lost people. I lost my brother, my nephew, my other niece and another relative.

I am concerned that in the coming days we will see more expansion. This is the nature of Israeli politicians. Before the ceasefire was signed or before it went into effect, they continued to try to escalate the killings even more. The pace of killing is increasing. In 2014, on the last day of the war, I lost my sister and her children.

There is still great concern that the Israeli leadership may back away from the agreements, and the pace of killing has increased in the last two or three days, so I pray to God that this does not happen.

After the war, there will be a large number of people suffering from very difficult psychological conditions – because of the tensions and phobias and fears they have lived through. It is possible that these conditions and mental fatigue may worsen and progress beyond depression.

There must be treatment for these people. Even a few days ago, I had a case of an elderly woman whose son died. He had severe mental health issues and began psychotherapy sessions to help his condition.

‘We have lost many dear and precious people’

Yasmeen al-Helo is a mother of one from Shujayea, a suburb of Gaza City. He was expelled from Deir el-Balah last year.

Honestly, my feelings are indescribable. It was such a joy, I cried and was happy at the same time. I cried about the things that happened to us. It wasn’t easy, and there is a lot of sadness. People’s hearts are broken. The experience was overwhelming and very difficult.

We lost people. Some are lost, some are taken by [Israeli] work and others were martyred. In general, I am happy that the bloodshed and violence will end, but at the same time, I am sad because we have lost so many dear and precious people. But it happens, and all you can do is pray to God.

God willing, the ceasefire will not collapse and will continue at this time. Honestly, I would have preferred a quick ceasefire because these two tough days were worse than last year. They want to intensify the bombing and the madness they are doing.

Hope for treatment abroad

Mohammed al-Mudawwi was receiving physical treatment for a spinal cord injury that crippled his legs at al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis when he claimed to have been taken by Israeli forces and accused of involvement in the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack in southern Israel, which he denies. . He explains that he was detained in January 2024 for about a month, where he was beaten.

The treatment was very bad. Due to medical negligence, I developed ulcers. I was not allowed to move. When they put me to sleep on my right or left side, they wouldn’t turn me over, and I got sores because of it. My hands turned blue from the constant pressure of the handcuffs.

My health deteriorated due to lack of nutrition. They did not feed us. We were blindfolded. We didn’t know what they were drinking. They even cut my feet to see if I could feel them or not. When I started bleeding, there was no question of bandaging it. I hope that since I am disabled, I can now be referred for treatment abroad.

Now I have hope and hope because of the ceasefire. Yesterday I was laughing for the first time since the war started. This time is very good, especially for my children. May God have mercy on the souls of the martyrs.

‘We can’t forget’

Saleh Aljafarawi is a 27-year-old journalist who was displaced from northern Gaza during the war. He has become very popular in Gaza for his videos about the war and says he has received many threats from Israel for his work.

It was a terrible experience, one of the worst I have ever lived through in my life. All the scenes and situations I went through during these 467 days will never be erased from my memory. All the situations we faced, we cannot forget them.

But the feelings of happiness today with the end of this war make us forget – to say the least – what we have lived through. May God keep us safe and secure in the Gaza Strip. After the end of the war, we will return to the north of the Gaza Strip, even if our homes are destroyed and nothing is left of them. God willing, we will rebuild them.

We paid a heavy price for this war. We lost our partners, we lost our families, we lost our friends. We were deprived of the simplest things imaginable. We were deprived of being with our families for 467 days.

Honestly, I lived in fear every second, especially after hearing what the Israeli occupation had to say about me. I was living life second to second, never knowing what the next moment would bring.

Two days left [until the ceasefire]and I hope God will make it easy for us.