The night before the ceasefire was announced, I couldn’t sleep. I was so excited I could barely close my eyes.
We all knew the ceasefire was coming; in the month prior, December 2024, the media had been filled with reports stating as much. And I knew that as soon as the ceasefire was announced I would head back home to northern Gaza.
I’d been living in a tent in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, since 13 October 2023. My family and I were forced to leave our home in Gaza City – an apartment on the sixth floor of al-Wihda Tower in the Nasr neighborhood – due to constant and deadly Israeli attacks.
I was eager to get home and see what could be salvaged. ….more
