Gaza awaits a ceasefire, fearing last-minute disasters

Civilians in Gaza were anxiously awaiting a respite on Friday after 15 months of continuous war, as the Israeli government met in Jerusalem to finalize a temporary ceasefire agreement with Hamas.

While they waited, Israel bombarded the Strip with airstrikes, killing at least 113 people since the deal was first agreed in principle on Wednesday night, according to the Hamas-run Civil Defense Agency in Gaza.

The agreement, which was finalized on Friday afternoon, is scheduled to take effect on Sunday, leaving Gazans with just over 24 hours to wait for relief.

“Time moves slower than ever,” said Dr. Abdullah Shabir, 27, an emergency physician at the Baptist Hospital in Gaza City. “At any moment you could lose your life,” he said. “Sitting at home and walking down the street there is no warning.”

Dr. Shabir was on duty at the hospital on Wednesday evening when news of the ceasefire agreement came. He added that there was a short moment of joy, but less than an hour separated the announcement of the beginning of the wave of air strikes that led to a torrent of deaths and injuries on the Baptist.

Every employee was called. “It was as bad as we've ever seen,” Dr. Shabir said. “Serious injuries and severe burns. Many dead, of course.”

Among the dead brought in on Thursday was colleague Hala Abu Ahmed, 27, an internal medicine specialist, who was described by two Baptist colleagues as a loyal and promising young doctor and a good person.

Dr. Ahmed Aliwa, head of the emergency department, said that she worked tirelessly and under intense pressure for 15 months, since the start of the war, and was killed after a ceasefire was agreed upon.

Among the millions of displaced people in the Strip, many were waiting on Friday for the moment when they could return to their homes for the first time since the war began. Many will find bombed wasteland instead of their homes.

Sabreen Dushan (45 years old), who owned a stall on the street and lived in an apartment building in Gaza City, said, “My house was completely destroyed and the building disappeared.”

She said that Dushan has lost 17 members of her family since the start of the war. She was preparing to set off from Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, where she lives in a tent, to visit the ruins of her home.

“Even if I have to put my tent on the rubble, it's okay, because I'll go home,” she said. “There is no place that can satisfy me now but home.”

The devastation in the Gaza Strip is enormous. According to a recent analysis by the United Nations Satellite Centre, 69% of all buildings and 68% of roads were destroyed or damaged, as of December. About 46,700 people were killed, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health.

Israel set out to destroy Hamas in Gaza in October 2023, after the group attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage.

For Gazans, the joy of the long-awaited ceasefire has been tempered by the scale of death and destruction. Wael Mohammed, an independent journalist who lives in a refugee camp in central Gaza, said: “By God, it’s a mixed feeling.”

“From one moment to the next, from joy to pain,” he said. “I am happy that the bloodshed will stop, but we live in misery.”

On Friday afternoon, the ceasefire agreement was making its way through the Israeli political system for final approval. The agreement paves the way for the exit of an initial group of three hostages on Sunday in exchange for the release of about 95 Palestinian prisoners.

But the exchange, which will continue over the next six weeks, is fraught with the possibility of collapse.

“The biggest challenge is whether the ceasefire will be implemented successfully,” said Juliette Touma, Director of Communications at the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNRWA).

“If so, the challenge ahead of us remains very huge. The vast majority of shelters are overcrowded. Many of them are simply living in the open, or in makeshift buildings. They lack basic needs such as warm clothes. “Bad living conditions. It's not suitable conditions for humans.”

In Gaza on Friday, some were focused on Sunday, and whether they would reach that interim period without the deal collapsing.

“We are afraid of any change or any movement,” said Khalil Nateel (30 years old), whose house in Jabalia, north of the Gaza Strip, was destroyed early in the war.

“The news continues,” Nateel said from a shelter in central Gaza. “We are watching and waiting.”