Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Palestine – Palestinians in the Gaza Strip woke up Thursday to the sound of renewed bombing, adding terror to the joy they felt after news of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement the night before.

They hope that this announcement will mean an end to the 15-month-old Israeli war, which has killed more than 46,700 Palestinians and left thousands missing. But their memories of the war won’t go away anytime soon.

In Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, many people were displaced from other areas in the Strip after fleeing their homes following Israeli attacks or Israeli orders to leave or face bombing.

They struggled to survive. Many have lost their nearest and dearest and feel lucky to be alive. But what comes next is still unknown. With the devastation evident across Gaza and Israel seemingly unwilling to leave the Strip alone, many dangers lie ahead.

Al Jazeera spoke to people in Deir al-Balah the day after the ceasefire was announced on Wednesday as they awaited its implementation on Sunday. Here’s what they had to say:

More shocks are yet to come

Nahid Al-War is a psychiatrist who was displaced with his family from the Bureij refugee camp at the beginning of the war after his home was destroyed. He now works at the Deir al-Balah clinic and also volunteers his own time to meet people seeking psychological help for the trauma they suffered during the war.

It feels very nice. We are very happy. It feels like a holiday. We hope that this feeling will remain forever, and that we will not see more bloodshed. Hopefully we will never see him again or have to go through this experience again. We all lost people. I lost my brother, my nephew, my other nephew, and another cousin.

I am concerned that we will see further escalation in the coming days. This is the nature of Israeli politicians. Before the ceasefire is signed or before the ceasefire goes into effect, they are constantly trying to escalate the killing more and more. The rate of killing is increasing. In 2014, on the last day of the war, I lost my sister and her children.

There is still great fear that the Israeli leadership will back down from the agreements, and the rate of killing has increased in the past two or three days, and I pray to God that this does not happen.

After the war, there will be a large number of people suffering from very difficult psychological conditions – from the tensions, phobias and fears that they experienced. These conditions and psychological fatigue can worsen and develop beyond depression.

There must be a cure for these people. Until a few days ago, I had the case of an elderly woman whose son had died. She was suffering from severe mental health problems and began psychiatric sessions to improve her condition.

“We have lost so many dear and precious people.”

Yasmine Al-Helou is a mother of a daughter who comes from Al-Shujaiya, a suburb of Gaza City. I was displaced to Deir al-Balah a year ago.

Honestly, my feelings are indescribable. It was a great joy, I cried and rejoiced at the same time. I cried over the things that happened to us. It wasn’t easy, and there was a lot of sadness. People’s hearts are hurt. The experience was a heavy burden and very difficult.

We lost people. Some are lost, others have been taken before [Israeli] The occupation and some were martyred. In general, I am happy that the bloodshed and violence will stop, but at the same time, I am sad that we have lost so many dear and precious people. But it happened, and all you can do is pray to God.

God willing, the ceasefire will not collapse and will continue this time. Frankly, I would have preferred an immediate ceasefire because these two difficult days were worse than the entire last year. They want to intensify the bombings and the madness they are doing.

Hope for treatment abroad

Muhammad Al-Madawy was receiving physical therapy for a spinal injury that paralyzed his legs at Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis when, he said, Israeli forces arrested him and accused him of involvement in the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks in the West Bank. Southern Israel, which he denies. He explains that he was detained in January 2024 for about a month, during which he was beaten.

The treatment was very bad. As a result of medical negligence, she developed ulcers. I was not allowed to move. When they put me on my right or left side, they wouldn’t turn me, and I got blisters because of that. My hands turned blue from the constant pressure of the handcuffs.

My health deteriorated due to lack of nutrition. They didn’t feed us. We were blindfolded. We had no idea what they were making us drink. They even cut off my foot to see if I could feel it or not. When I started bleeding, there was no interest in bandaging it. I hope that since I am disabled, I can now be referred for treatment abroad.

I am now optimistic and full of hope because of the ceasefire. Yesterday was the first time I laughed since the war started. This moment is wonderful, especially for my children. May God have mercy on the souls of the martyrs.

“We will never be able to forget”

Saleh Al-Jaafrawi, a 27-year-old journalist, was displaced from northern Gaza during the war. He has become well-known in Gaza for his videos covering the war, and says he has received numerous threats from Israel because of his work.

It was a bad experience, one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had in my life. All the scenes and situations I experienced during these 467 days will never be erased from my memory. All the situations we faced, we will never be able to forget.

But today’s feelings of joy at the end of this war make us forget – even if just a little – what we lived through. May God grant us security and safety in the Gaza Strip. After the war ends, we will return to the northern Gaza Strip, even if our homes are destroyed and nothing remains of them. God willing, we will rebuild them.

We have paid a heavy price in this war. We lost our colleagues, we lost our families, we lost our friends. We have been deprived of the simplest things you can imagine. We were deprived of being with our families for 467 days.

Honestly, I lived in fear every second, especially after I heard what the Israeli occupation was saying about me. I was living life second to second, not knowing what the next second would bring.

There are still two days left [until the ceasefire]We ask God to make it easy for us.