A long-awaited ceasefire deal has finally taken effect in Gaza, bringing with it a glimmer of hope, fragile and insufficient though it may be. The phased deal would pause Israel’s devastating military assault, allow a surge of desperately needed humanitarian aid, and free hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel in exchange for over three dozen Israeli captives.
It is a rare moment of cautious relief for my family and other Palestinians in Gaza, who have suffered immeasurably for 15 months in an Israeli onslaught that has killed nearly 47,000 people, decimated entire communities and left trauma and scars that will last for generations. In fact, nearly 10 percent of the population has been killed, injured or are missing, according to human rights groups.
For 15 months, Palestinians in Gaza have been the target of Israel’s systematic and unrelenting campaign of bombardment, deliberate starvation and displacement. The U.S. government is arming Israel for this venture, and many human rights groups and legal experts refer to it as a genocide.
Yet, shortly before leaving office, former President Joe Biden cited the ceasefire as a capstone policy achievement.
If anything, it is an indictment of the epic failures of his administration. This deal is the same one negotiated eight months ago and rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Biden will go down in history as the president who recklessly supported one of the most deadly and destructive bombing campaigns in history, enabling Israel’s systematic destruction of an entire society and the fastest pace of starvation seen in modern times.
Like many other Palestinians, my family members in Gaza are experiencing a rollercoaster of emotions — they are hopeful but wary about what the future might hold. Some are too numb to process the gravity of this moment. For many, survival remains the only priority. The last year has taken them to the depths of hell and back, to a Gaza they no longer recognize, their lives changed irrevocably.
Most have more questions than there are answers. With more than 92 percent of Gaza’s housing units severely damaged or destroyed, and conditions deliberately engineered to make life unsustainable, what would they be returning to, and how? To the unsustainable pre-Oct. 7 status quo, in which they were prisoners in their own homes prior, enduring a suffocating and illegal Israeli siege since 2007? To remaining stripped of all their basic freedoms, as Gaza gradually fades from the headlines once again?
Then there is the very real fear that Israel will simply use the cover of temporary ceasefire to further entrench its grip on Gaza — and, critically, the West Bank and East Jerusalem — and continue to roll out its vision of maximizing control over and dispossessing Palestinians of their land, just as they did in the Nakba during the establishment of Israel in 1948, when a majority of Palestinians were expelled from their homes to make way for a Jewish ethno-religious state.
In the short term, Palestinians in Gaza need the bombs to stop falling. They also desperately need a significant surge in aid that should have never stopped flowing to begin with. But more than any of this, they want their basic rights and to live in freedom. They want to farm and to learn and to play and to move freely without the fear of being ripped apart by Israeli missiles.
They want Israel to stop breathing down their throat and controlling every aspect of their lives, from when they can turn on the lights to when and where they can travel to and how far they can fish, as they have done for decades.
If this ceasefire is to last, the underlying cause of the violence — that is, Israel’s asphyxiating 17-year blockade on Gaza and decades-long military occupation — must be addressed and Palestinians must be free to govern themselves without outside interference.
A ceasefire is just the first step. What we need now is an end to Israel’s blockade, a halt to Israel’s violent occupation and oppressive control and denial of basic Palestinian rights, and a concerted effort by governments and international institutions to hold Israeli leaders accountable for their actions.
Things are only likely to get worse for Palestinians under the Trump administration, if his first term in office and recent order to lift sanctions on illegal and violent West Bank settlers are any indication. With a coveted normalization deal with Saudi Arabia looming, Palestinians may find themselves more isolated than ever before.
Yet, despite every attempt to break them, Palestinians endure, driven by the unwavering determination and fortitude of our people in Gaza and beyond. The real question is, will the world take meaningful action to stop the ongoing Israeli brutality and injustice from continuing unchecked?
Laila El-Haddad is a Palestinian American writer and author from Gaza.
