As the dust settles on what remains of the Gaza Strip, Palestinians are beginning the long road to recovering what is left of their lives.
Since the US-brokered ceasefire came into effect last week, thousands have made the long journey north, many unable to recognise anything resembling their old neighbourhoods.
A prisoner-hostage exchange took place ahead of Donald Trump’s address to the Israeli Knesset on Monday, as the US president celebrated his peace deal to rapturous applause.
At a gathering point in central Ramallah, relatives, supporters, and members of the Palestinian security forces waited for news of the buses that would release 1,966 Palestinian detainees. The last 20 living Israeli hostages taken captive by Hamas during the October 7 attacks two years ago were also returned to their families.
“This is a very beautiful feeling – happy, a day of joy,” a 50-year-old father, Muhammad Hasan Saeed Dawood, told the BBC. His son was arrested by Israeli forces at a checkpoint. “We call it a national holiday, that our detainees are being released despite the cost of the war, the martyrs, the injured, and the destruction in Gaza.”
Amid the large crowds, Waseem Amar from Qalqiya waited for her father, who was arrested in 2003 on charges of killing a settler and sentenced to life in prison.
“I can’t describe the feelings; it’s like a dream. I can only believe it when I see him,” she told The Independent in tears. The family have had no information about him for over two years. Amar’s mother received a call that he was on his way from Ofer while she spoke.
“We hope to have a better life in the future with our father – a father is the pillar of any family. We hope and pray to God that this brings actual peace.”
Palestinian families told The Independent that soldiers had raided the homes of relatives on the eve of the prisoners’ release, warning them not to celebrate.
Overnight, Israeli ministers approved a final list of 1,718 Palestinians detained since 7 October 2023 – including women and 22 children – and 250 prisoners serving life sentences, to be released as part of the ceasefire deal.
Reuters reported that 154 will be deported. Israel is also due to hand over the bodies of 350 Palestinians, which they have been holding since 2023.
Among those likely to be deported is Iyad Abu al-Rub, who was arrested on charges of killing Israeli soldiers in 2005 in Jenin.
His cousin Abdulrahman told The Independent that the family’s joy is therefore “incomplete”. They have not been permitted to visit Iyad in prison since 2021.
Israel had been pressured to release high-profile prisoners including Marwan Barghouti, often dubbed the “Palestinian Mandela”, as a mark of good faith. He consistently tops polls among Palestinians as the person they would vote to lead them as a nation. However, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to release Barghouti.
After months of reports of starvation and chaotic scenes at food aid points in Gaza, the situation appears to be improving, albeit slowly. Footage of aid being delivered was circulated over the weekend, with some communal kitchens cooking mounds of food.
Reports suggest that up to 600 aid trucks could be let in on a daily basis, which is still below what humanitarian agencies believe is adequate for the needs of the population. Some local businesses and markets reported drops in prices of between 70 and 80 per cent.
For Hamza Ibrahim, who is now 24 years old, and first spoke to The Independent in 2023, the ceasefire is bittersweet. He left Gaza in the past few days to take up a scholarship in journalism in Ireland. His relatives all remain in the Strip, and he is the first in his family ever to have left the country.
Over 90 per cent of schools have been damaged or destroyed, according to Save the Children.
Now that the bombing has stopped, his feelings are mixed. “My parents rang me when the ceasefire was announced,” he told The Independent. “They said: ‘You survived. We’re so proud of you.’”
For many, though, grief is taking hold, as thousands reflect on the horrors they’ve just been through.
“Even though people are happy, they also feel sad. They wonder: ‘Where shall we go? What if the ceasefire doesn’t last?’ All we can see is destruction. I feel like I have left hell and am entering into a heaven. I can see what I’ve been through from the outside and am realising how bad it was. Gaza is like a prison. There is no food, no water, no electricity.”
More than 92 per cent of homes have been destroyed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Authority, and 62 per cent of hospitals, with only 14 remaining somewhat functioning of the 36 that existed at the start of the war. At least 1.9 million people, representing 90 per cent of the population, have been displaced.
Palestinian health authorities say that more than 68,000 people have been killed, 83 per cent of whom were civilians, according to IDF data revealed by The Guardian. Research by the British Medical Journal showed that civilians endured injuries worse than those suffered by combat personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan.
At least 250 bodies have been recovered beneath the rubble since the ceasefire was implemented, though the number is expected to increase dramatically. Locals reported that their children have been sleeping through the night for the first time, as they are not disturbed by airstrikes, drones and explosions.
But clashes have already broken out among factions in Gaza, some of which are backed by the Israeli occupation, according to sources. A 28-year-old journalist, Saleh al-Jafarawi, and 26 others were killed in fighting that broke out after the ceasefire.
Among the relief and inevitably endless grief, there is also deep suspicion, particularly among those based in the West Bank.
Issa Amro, a Palestinian activist featured in Louis Theroux’s The Settlers documentary, said that many Palestinians are deeply uncertain about the future of the region.
“It’s very important that the killing has stopped,” he told The Independent. “But we are deeply suspicious about whether this will last. Whether Israel will respect the agreement. They have broken every one so far. The genocide is not over. People are still dying due to lack of food and medicine.”
And now, there are serious fears for the West Bank. “When the war ends in Gaza, it begins in the West Bank,” he said. “Remember, this is a ceasefire plan, not a peace plan.”
He also reiterated the importance of “accountability” for what took place in Gaza – many organisations have accused Israel of war crimes, which the country denies.
An arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu was issued by the International Criminal Court, alleging that he and his then defence minister Yoav Gollant had committed the war crime of starvation.
A two-year investigation by the United Nations concluded that Israel was committing genocide, a claim that Israel has called “false and distorted”.
One UN report suggested it could take up to 350 years for Gaza to return to its pre-2023 economy, and it could take decades just to clear the more than 50 million tonnes of rubble left by the devastating war.
