Crowds of Palestinians sang and hugged as news spread that a cease-fire and prisoner-release deal had been reached between Israel and Hamas to end more than 15 months of war in the Palestinian territory.
Mediator Qatar announced the deal on Wednesday, but Israel warned that several points “remain unresolved” that it hopes will be finalized soon.
But there was already celebration in Gaza, with crowds of people hugging and taking photos to mark the announcement.
“I can’t believe that this nightmare of over a year is finally coming to an end. We lost so many people, we lost everything,” said Randa Sameeh, a 45-year-old displaced from Gaza City to the Nuseirat camp in the center of the territory.
“We need a lot of rest. As soon as the armistice begins, I will go to the cemetery to visit my brother and family members. We buried them in Deir el-Balah cemetery without proper graves. We will build them new graves and write their names on them.”
Outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital in Deir el-Balah, where so many victims of the war were taken, hundreds of Palestinians gathered to chant, sing and wave flags.
At one point, a member of the crowd and a reporter in a bulletproof vest were hoisted onto people’s shoulders to conduct an interview above the crowd of jubilant Palestinians.
As ambulances pushed their way through the crowd to reach the hospital, smiling men and women alike shouted “Allahu akbar,” or “God is greatest” in Arabic, and waved the Palestinian flag.
Small children, some looking bewildered by the commotion, also gathered outside the hospital, milling about among the adults and watching them give interviews to the waiting media.
A group of young boys in the center of the crowd led a popular resistance chant as adults filmed the moment on their phones.
In Gaza City, 27-year-old Abdul Karim said: “I feel joy, despite everything we have lost.”
“I can’t believe that I will finally see my wife and two children again,” he added. “They went south almost a year ago. I hope it will enable the quick return of exiles.”
A large crowd also gathered in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, with young men surfing through the crowd on the shoulders of others beating drums and cheering.
The deal announced Wednesday is expected to halt fighting in the devastated Palestinian territory and free Gaza prisoners in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Israel’s the war in Gaza has killed at least 46,707 Palestinians and wounded 110,265 since October 7, 2023. At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during attacks led by Hamas that day, and more than 200 were captured.
