‘If there was a ceasefire, I’d go home,’ Gaza’s war-weary IDPs say
Al Jazeera
Displaced residents of Gaza have mixed hope for whether a ceasefire will happen soon – but all are eager to return home.
Deir el-Balah, Gaza – The word is a weary wish in Gaza, as much a source of searing disappointment as the last emblem of hope.
It has also been on the lips of protesters worldwide, who for months have demonstrated against the carnage of Israel’s war on Gaza.
The word is “ceasefire”, an end to the Israeli assault that has pummeled the Gaza Strip for seven months – killing at least 34,683 and injuring at least 78,018 more in a drawn-out Israeli retaliation for a Hamas-led attack on its territory on October 7.
Several rounds of ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas in recent months have failed to end the bloodshed or even achieve a temporary pause, as happened last November.
The source of the talks’ deadlock is that Hamas wants a permanent end to the war and the assurance that Israel will not invade Rafah, the refuge for nearly 1.5 million Palestinians.