Palestinians React to Ceasefire Amidst Grief and Celebration

Sat Oct 11 2025 01:37:58 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

After a long-standing conflict, Palestinians in Gaza expressed mixed emotions as they celebrated a ceasefire and hostage release deal, while grappling with profound grief for their lost loved ones.

Following the announcement of a ceasefire deal brokered by US President Donald Trump, Palestinians in Gaza experienced a bittersweet mixture of joy and sorrow. While many celebrated the possibility of peace and the return of some hostages, the deep emotional scars remaining from years of conflict, including the loss of loved ones, cast a shadow over the festivities. Residents lamented the absence of their deceased family members and expressed concerns about confronting their grief amidst the newfound hope for peace.

Palestinians in Gaza have celebrated the agreement of a ceasefire and hostage release deal - but many fear confronting the grief that has built up over two years of war.

This morning, when we heard the news about the truce, it brought both joy and pain, 38-year-old Umm Hassan, who lost his 16-year-old son during the war, told the BBC.

Out of joy, both the young and the old began shouting, he said. And those who had lost loved ones started remembering them and wondering how we would return home without them.

Every person who lost someone feels that sorrow deeply and wonders how they'll return home, he added.

The agreement announced by US President Donald Trump - which still must be accepted by Israel's security cabinet - will see the release of 20 living hostages and the bodies of 28 dead hostages in return for 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences in Israeli jails and 1,700 detainees from Gaza.

This is the first phase of a 20-point peace plan that could lead to an end to the war - though the latter phases still need to be negotiated.

We, the civilians, are the ones who've suffered - truly suffered, Daniel Abu Tabeekh, from the Jabalia refugee camp, told the BBC. The factions don't feel our pain. Those leaders sitting comfortably abroad have no sense of the suffering we're enduring here in Gaza.

Israel launched the war in Gaza in response to the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023, when around 1,200 people, mostly Israeli civilians, were killed and 251 others taken hostage.

According to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, Israel's offensive has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians, most of whom are civilians, with these figures being seen as reliable by the UN and other international bodies.

More than 90% of Gaza's housing has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

As news of a possible ceasefire deal broke, Husam Zomlot, the head of the Palestinian mission to the UK, said, The worst part in the last two years is that while you are losing loved ones, you are unable to allow yourself to grieve, or to feel the deep sadness and to process your human feelings.

But after the event, which I hope to be very soon, the main feeling will be grief, mourning, and a deep, deep sense of loss. Because what we've lost is huge.