The countdown to the ceasefire, set to take effect on Sunday, is filled with a mix of anticipation and fear for Gaza’s residents. As airstrikes by the occupation forces continue relentlessly, many fear becoming the conflict’s final casualties. Al-Akhbar War Journalist Youssef Fares reports the details from Gaza.
Talks of post-ceasefire plans dominate conversations. In northern Gaza, displaced residents, forced from their homes over 100 days ago, are preparing to return to areas ravaged by bombing. Mohammad Salha, displaced from Tal Al-Zaatar, expressed his priorities: “The first thing I will do is search for my relatives, whom I haven’t been able to contact for 60 days. If they have been martyred, we will honor them and bury their bodies, and then we will check on the state of our homes, if nothing is left then we’ll have to look for shelter again.”
Many displaced families face an uncertain future. Ahed Ali, who is staying with relatives in southern Gaza, shared his concerns: “We are happy, by God, that the war is over, but our concerns are great. My family and I are staying in the home of our displaced relatives in the south. When the ceasefire takes effect, we will have to search for a new shelter. Our house in Jabalia is destroyed, and we must leave the house to its owners, may God bless them for having us.”
Others, like Samah Hijazi, are focused on finding loved ones. “The first thing I will do immediately after the ceasefire begins is to search for the body of my brother Mohammad, then honor him by burying him to calm his grieving mother’s heart,” she said.
Sources told Al-Akhbar that hundreds of bodies still lie in the streets of northern Gaza. Palestinian Civil Defense and medical teams are coordinating efforts to recover them and clear unexploded ordnance left behind by the Israeli occupation before residents return to their neighborhoods.
Meanwhile, the violence continues. Journalist Amer Sultan’s family home in Jabalia Al-Balad was bombed by “Israel” on Friday, killing his family, including his wife, children, and parents. Rescue efforts were delayed until the next afternoon.
Palestinian journalist Amer al-Sultan lost 9 members of his family: his mother, his brothers, and his sisters in an Israeli strike that targeted their family home in the northern #Gaza Strip.
Al-Sultan said he was “waiting for the ceasefire moment by moment, second by second,… pic.twitter.com/IXLve3JxMo— Palestine Info Center (@palinfoen) January 18, 2025
Other areas, such as Shuja’iyya, Al-Tuffah, Al-Daraj, and Sheikh Radwan, were heavily bombarded by the occupation’s aerial drones, while robots rigged with explosives demolished residential areas, displacing more residents.
Source: Al-Akhbar newspaper (translated and edited by Al-Manar English Website)
