The Gaza Strip fell asleep again on Friday night, but this time it was not because of a powerful Israeli explosion that the surrounding areas had been defeated 11 days ago.
Instead, thousands poured into the streets, rejoicing to stop the war endorsed by Israeli and Palestinian militants, chanting in support of the protest.
Mosques chanted Eid al-Fitr prayers a week after the holidays and sweets were given around in a celebration that was marked by death and destruction. People also had the opportunity to visit those whose relatives had been killed.
Celebrations for ending the war reached several cities in the West Bank and Palestine in East Jerusalem, with many praising the military and the Palestinian courage in Gaza.
According to the medical ministry in Gaza, 243 Palestinians have been killed in the worst atrocities in Israel, including 66 children and 39 women. At least 1,910 others were injured. More than 90,000 Palestinians have been displaced, and many of Gaza’s buildings and many civilian homes have been destroyed or destroyed.
In Israel, 12 people were killed, including three foreign workers.
The end of the war, encouraged by Egypt’s mediator, saw the “interaction and disunity” end between the Israeli army and the Palestinian forces that began at 2 a.m. Friday (23:00 GMT Thursday).
No legal decisions were made, and the Israeli security minister said it had voted unanimously before the “non-aligned” agreement was reached.
However, Hamas spokesman Abdel-Latif al-Qanou told Al Jazeera that the military had established its conditions.
He also mentioned the end of the expulsion of Palestinian families from East Jerusalem around Sheikh Jarrah and the influx of Israeli security forces into the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
“Israel has awakened even when it refuses to take up arms, and has not achieved its goals that would have begun,” al-Qanou said.
Meanwhile, firefighting is taking place, with Israeli troops re-entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Friday for the second time, firing on cannons and grenades.
“Now Israel is being tested, and the opposition groups in Gaza are seeing what they can do,” al-Qanou said.
“This ceasefire is a respite, an opportunity to regain the strength to fight against any of the Israeli forces.”
‘Shameful end to war’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the scandal has hailed Hamas as “an unimaginable problem”, even saying it has “changed the equation” and retaliated against Hamas for years.
Netanyahu said Israeli forces had disrupted Hamas operations in Gaza, as well as many factories and markets, and said more than 200 Palestinians had been killed – including 25 officials.
However, many Israeli politicians criticized the ceasefire as a disgrace to Hamas.
New Hope party leader Gideon Sa’ar called the ceasefire “embarrassing,” and lamented that despite “the most intelligent and militant in the world, Netanyahu has been able to get from Hamas ‘to stop the war without any culture’.”
Itamar Ben Gvir, a right-wing member of the Knesset, said, “the disgraceful withdrawal of firearms is one of the main threats and dangers of Hamas”.
Avigdor Lieberman, who resigned as security minister in 2018 after Israel agreed to a treaty between Egypt following two days of the Gaza war, said the ceasefire was “another Netanyahu failure”.
‘Pre-Palestinian Aid’
Adnan Abu Amer, a Palestinian political analyst in Gaza, said the unity among the Palestinian people was that Hamas had won the war, both military and political.
“While there were 11 days of hardship and a bit of damage to the Israeli side, Hamas has seriously tarnished the image of Israel around the world – this time more than the last war in 2014,” he told Al Jazeera.
“This is because the increase did not come from the Gaza Strip and the blockade, but because of the whole issue – supported by Muslims, Arabs, and the general public around the world – which is important for the Palestinian, Jerusalem.”
Hamas and other Palestinian groups in Gaza threw thousands of rockets at Israel for 11 days. The long shots fired by Gaza forces led to the suspension of the main airport.
Palestinian worshipers gather for Israeli military before opening Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem on Friday [Ahmad Gharabli/AFP]
Meanwhile, Abu Amer said the ideas used by the Palestinian government – such as in support of the two countries’ response – were accepted as irrelevant to what was happening in the Palestinian cause.
“[This rhetoric] it undermines everything Palestinians have in Hamas after any evil, “Abu Amer said.
“This time, we have seen unprecedented support from Palestine [for the resistance] across the country, proving that the Israeli policy in Gaza is an extension of the policy in Jerusalem, the West Bank and against the Palestinians living in the 1948 region, “he said.
“Before going to Palestine these areas should come out of the candle-lighting process in line with Gaza, but this time, they have stood up for the anti-Israel movement,” Abu Amer said.
The boycott was held by thousands of Palestinians on Monday across the country. In the West Bank, where at least 28 Palestinians were killed in protests over the Israeli military, the health ministry said, and thousands more were injured.
In the meantime, Hamas and Israel want the war to end, no matter how frightening it may be, Abu Amer has finished. Gaza is in dire straits following a major Israeli explosion.
For the Palestinian people in Gaza, stopping guns is just a relief, and it represents the hope that the daily struggle on the coastal level will soon end.
“Like any group that articulates the legitimacy of Zionism and opposes the history of Europe and the US, globalization is good, but the most important victory is that it has reduced the chances of Israel staying on our side for a long time,” said Mahmoud Qudaih, a Palestinian media officer at Khan Younes. He said.
“We bury our dead and breathe our last, for the struggle for freedom continues and does not stop.”
