Gazans greet the cease-fire with joy — and sadness for all that was lost.
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Hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets across Gaza on Sunday, honking car horns and cheering to celebrate the start of the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.
Other people who had fled south collected any belongings they had and headed north for long awaited journeys back to their homes — or whatever was left of them. Many waited anxiously for news of what had become of their old neighborhoods from the first relatives and neighbors to arrive home.
Riyadh al-Gharably, 64, said he had hardly slept as he and his family waited to see if the cease-fire would go into effect as planned. He spent Sunday morning watching a clock and listening to sporadic artillery shelling and gunfire echoing from the city’s eastern borders — hoping that they did not signal any scuttling of the long-awaited peace.
“All the wives here cried all night,” said Mr. al-Gharably, his voice breaking.
In Gaza City, members of Palestinian Civil Defense teams — who carried out rescue operations in response to near-daily Israeli strikes during the war — poured into the streets to celebrate and climbed on top of ambulances to wave Palestinian flags.
In Deir al Balah, a city in central Gaza, cars honked their horns and loud music blared from coffee shops.
For many, the moment was awash with conflicting emotions: There was the sheer joy that the bombing and bloodshed might finally — finally — be over. But there was also an overwhelming sense of loss resulting from a conflict that has devastated the territory and its population.