‘There is euphoria’: In Gaza a rare moment of peace after 15 months of war

As the sun set over Gaza, Mohammad M.E Alastal was looking forward to something he hadn’t experienced in over a year. Six hours of sleep unbroken by the terrifying thud of Israeli aerial bombardments or emergency calls to rush in to work.

Since the war between Hamas and Israel broke out in October 2023, Alastal, a resident doctor in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis has often made do with just an hour or two of sleep a night. Now he says the ceasefire deal that went into effect on Sunday morning in Gaza (Sunday night AEDT) has brought a sense of relief, and even elation, to Gazans.

“There is a huge environment of happiness, there is euphoria that the killing will stop, the genocide will stop, that we can live in safety and peace, not seeing body parts and dead bodies,” he says by telephone from Khan Younis.

“This is something we have been dreaming about; we couldn’t imagine this day could come. For the last 471 days, every minute here in Gaza has felt like one year.”

Before the war, the European Gaza Hospital where Alastal, 31, works had a capacity to look after about 250 patients. That figure quickly surged to more than 800, with patients being treated in beds lining the hospital corridors. “Every day we saw heartbreaking situations,” he says. “The destruction was not just physical: it was psychological, emotional.”

For Alastal, it was also personal. His family home was destroyed in December 2023, forcing them to live in a tent city for more than a year. Many relatives and friends, including his cousin and closest friend, have been killed by Israeli bombs. His wedding, planned for May, was cancelled because of the war.

He is critical both of Hamas for triggering the war with its attacks on Israeli civilians and Israel for its brutal, 15-month long retaliation. “Without the 7th of October, the war would not have happened,” he says. “Most people do not want Hamas or Israel to control Gaza again … I would tell [Hamas] that to their face.”

From the 16th day of the ceasefire, negotiations about an end to the war and post-conflict governing arrangements in Gaza are supposed to begin. Alastal says he fears the Netanyahu government will find a way to restart the war, but he has no choice but to pray to Allah that the truce holds. His preference would be for an international peacekeeping force, run by the United Nations, to take control of Gaza in the short term.