In Gaza City on Sunday morning, discussions centered on the prospect of peace. Amid the shattered surroundings, residents across the territory remained glued to phones, televisions, or updates from better-informed acquaintances.
Um Fadi Ma’rouf, originally from the decimated northern town of Beit Lahia, expressed cautious optimism after Hamas responded to the latest U.S.-backed proposal.
"I think this could mean progress. I desperately hope it succeeds—this war has worn us all down," said the 50-year-old, displaced nine times since the conflict began.
Although Israel dismissed Hamas’s proposed amendments to a draft agreement shared last week, it sent negotiators to Qatar for indirect talks. Separately, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet former U.S. President Donald Trump during his visit to Washington.
The atmosphere in Gaza City remained strained. At dawn, children in tattered clothes wandered broken streets, carrying empty containers in search of food or scraps to burn. Others sought relief along the coast as temperatures climbed inside overcrowded tents.
"Occasionally, distant airstrikes echo, but they’re faint now," a resident told CuriosityNews. "We spotted a warship near the shore, but it didn’t engage."
Previous ceasefires—November 2023 and January 2024—both faltered. The latter collapsed in March after Israel abandoned pledged negotiations toward a lasting resolution, triggering renewed offensives and an 11-week siege that pushed Gaza to the brink of famine.
The conflict erupted after Hamas's 2023 attack on Israel, killing 1,200 and abducting 250. Fifty hostages remain, over half presumed dead. Israel’s retaliation has left most of Gaza in ruins, displacing nearly all 2.3 million residents repeatedly, with over 57,000 fatalities reported.
Ma’rouf recalled the devastating return of hostilities after the last truce: "I never imagined the war restarting. It was unbearable—my sister and 20 extended family members are gone. Now, I fear losing anyone else."
Shahd Ashour, 19, whose sister’s fiancé died just before the previous ceasefire, remained wary: "I dread another false hope."
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