Palestinians Celebrate Ceasefire Agreement Amidst Grief and Loss

Sat Oct 11 2025 00:33:27 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

Amid joy over a ceasefire and hostage release deal, Palestinians are faced with grief from two years of war, reflecting on their losses while hoping for peace.

In Gaza, Palestinians are celebrating a ceasefire agreement but are grappling with the grief that comes from two years of conflict. Voices from the community express mixed feelings of joy and sorrow, remembering lost loved ones while yearning for normalcy and a chance to heal. The deal, announced by President Trump, aims to release hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners but highlights the profound suffering endured throughout the war.

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.

It 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.

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

Dr. Muhammad Rayan from al-Aqsa hospital told BBC Arabic: Deep inside, we feel thankful that the war has ended. But when we remember the groans, the wounds, and the immense loss, we simply can't rejoice.

Our happiness is mixed with pain, he said. As news of a possible ceasefire deal broke over the weekend, Husam Zomlot, the head of the Palestinian mission to the UK, told the BBC: The worst part in the last two years, is that while you are losing loved ones, your relatives, your friends, your neighbours, you are unable to allow yourself to grieve, or to feel the deep sadness and to process your human feelings.