GAZA, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- "I will move from one place to another while raising my hands to the sky to scream to let my son hear me," Baker Soboh, who lost his son during the Israeli attacks, described what he would do once a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel is announced.
"My son, family, and community have waited so long for such an emotional moment," said Soboh, a 51-year-old father of seven. "But day by day, we lose more and more of our loved ones."
Over 2.2 million people in Gaza are closely following the "positive" news from Qatar, which suggests that both Hamas and Israel are nearing an agreement on a ceasefire to end the 15-month conflict in Gaza.
Since Monday, both parties have reportedly made progress toward a ceasefire despite some remaining obstacles. Israeli, Palestinian, and U.S. officials expressed cautious optimism about a potential breakthrough in the coming days. A senior Hamas official confirmed the group had responded positively to the ceasefire proposal provided by mediators in Qatar.
"Hamas has raised no objections to the proposal, hoping a ceasefire can soon be reached to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza," the official said.
"For us, waiting for this news feels like waiting for our Eid festival," Soboh remarked. "Even though we have lost everything -- our loved ones, homes, work -- at least we will have time to mourn our losses."
Three months ago, Soboh lost his elder son, Samih, during an Israeli attack on the Al-Mawasi area in Khan Younis in the south of Gaza.
"My son was looking forward to the ceasefire and returning to our home in Gaza City even if it means to live on the rubble of our house. But he was killed," Soboh said with grief.
"I will call my son's name nonstop until my voice disappears, hoping that he can hear me in the sky and know that the long-awaited ceasefire is achieved and peace will finally prevail," the father told Xinhua.
Like Soboh, Mohammed, 65, also waited with anxiety for a ceasefire to be announced in the Doha talks, as his family has been eager to know about the whereabouts of his son, Shaaban.
Shaaban, also an employee at the Hamas-run Interior Ministry, was arrested by the Israeli army at a checkpoint in January 2024 when attempting to flee with his family from Gaza City to the southern areas.
"No party has informed us about my son's condition or fate," Mohammed told Xinhua, holding Shaaban's photo.
With their loved ones either passing or missing, many Gazans became stupefied by grief and terror. They eagerly want merely a moment's respite from bloodshed and pressure, particularly by returning to their homes once a ceasefire occurs.
Mariam Arafa, a displaced Palestinian woman, said she would rush to arrange her luggage to move back to her house in Gaza City if a ceasefire is reached.
"I want to cry over all my pains, losses, and even my damaged future… I will cry over the every day I was away from my home, life, loved ones, and work," the 35-year-old mother of four told Xinhua.
"Hopefully, I will be able to sleep soundly without fearing the Israeli attacks and without hearing the noises of the Israeli warplanes and drones that brought death to us," she said.
Sara, Arafa's daughter, has another plan. The 12-year-old girl told Xinhua that she would ask her father to buy her biscuits that she hadn't had for more than 14 months.
Walid Hasouna, another displaced Palestinian, said once the war ends, he would rush to the cemetery in Gaza City to visit the graves of his 13 family members who were killed during the Israeli attacks.
"I didn't have the chance to mourn them properly; I was constantly fleeing from one place to another to escape Israeli attacks," Hasouna said.
He added that some of his family members were still being buried under a six-floor building, and he needed to pull their bodies out and give them a proper burial.
"Israel wants to kill us, but we will never stop our life, and we will remain here on our land forever," he said.
Since Oct. 7, 2023, the Israeli army has been launching a large-scale military operation in Gaza, following an unprecedented Hamas-led attack on Israeli border towns. The Hamas attack resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths and around 250 hostages taken.
Over the past 15 months, the Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli strikes in Gaza has risen to 46,645, according to a statement from Gaza-based health authorities on Tuesday.■
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