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Between anticipation, anxiety and fear, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are following news regarding a possible ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel in the coastal enclave after 14 months of a genocidal war.

Over the past few days, "somewhat positive" news circulated about reaching a "real" ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel with Qatari-Egyptian-US mediation.

For its part, Hamas officially said that it may reach a ceasefire deal in Gaza within a few days unless "Israel puts more obstacles".

In a previous interview with °®Âþµº, a Turkey-based senior official of Hamas said, "We decided to make concessions to make negotiation efforts successful and stop the war on Gaza to spare our people further Israeli crimes."

The official, who preferred to be anonymous, noted that "most of the gaps have been ended, and the Qatari, Egyptian, and the US mediators received our positive answer for the current negotiations."Ìý

Also, Israeli officials announced that "a ceasefire can be reached now, especially after the circumstances that were hindering it have changed."

Such official statements spread cautious optimism among Gaza's battered residents, and have prompted many of them to prepare for the first moment when a ceasefire is announced.

In preparation for welcoming back those displaced, Palestinians in Gaza City have begun to clean the streets and remove rubble from the roads. Others were busy setting up hundreds of tents in public squares in anticipation of the displaced communities arrival at any moment and finding places to live in the city after being forcibly absent for more than 14 consecutive months.

"It seems that we will witness a ceasefire soon, especially since the Israeli army no longer has any goals that it can achieve, so we have to prepare tents and streets to receive our loved ones," Mohammed Abdullah, a Palestinian man in Gaza, remarked to TNA.

Palestinian women, who amount to mostly half of Gaza's population, are already planning to deal with the post-ceasefire conditions.Ìý

Unleashing tears and screams

While arranging bedding inside her tent in Al-Mawasi in Khan Younis, Umm Ibrahim Al-Sheikh Ali said that she will cry and scream out loud, so it may reach the sky, as soon as a ceasefire is officially announced in Gaza.

During the war, Umm Ibrahim, a mother of seven, lost her parents, brothers, sisters and husband during several Israeli attacks on their home in the Al-Jalaa neighbourhood in the centre of Gaza City. She and her seven children miraculously survived these assaults.

"I prevented myself from crying for 14 months so as not to appear weak in front of my children who need me and to ease their fear, but I am also afraid and terrified, and I want to express everything that hurts me by crying," the 44-year-old woman remarked.Ìý

"I was unable to mourn my loved ones or cry for them, nor was I able to grieve over my home that was destroyed by the Israeli army, nor over my children who are suffering from hunger and disease, or over my helplessness in protecting them from any sudden bombardment," she added.

"I will cry and scream and lament my fate loudly, and I will not allow anyone to silence me this time. I am crying over an age of pain, oppression, humiliation, insult and loss of everything," she continued.

Zainab Wadi, from Jabalia refugee camp, who currently lives in a tent in Deir al-Balah city in central Gaza, will hurry, even on foot, to her home that was bombed by the Israeli army in November 2023 to pull out the bodies of her three sons from the rubble of her house and bury them.

Wadi, 55, a mother of ten, believes that her sons' bodies have not yet decomposed.Ìý"They are waiting for me to take them out, bury them, and give them the mourning ceremonies they deserve," she remarked to TNA.

"I have the right to bury my sons in graves, visit them, recite the Quran for them, and plant flowers and trees on their graves, so that they may be in heaven [...] Israel has deprived us of the most basic of our rights to bid farewell to our loved ones," she added.

Breathing a sigh of reliefÌý

Shireen Al-Safadi, from the Tel Al-Hawa neighbourhood in Gaza City, is planning to spend long hours moving between the streets and places that were crowded with people on such days before the start of the new year to recall memories she lived with her family, friends, and loved ones.

"I know that the army destroyed everything in Gaza and that all the landmarks of my city have disappeared, but I am confident that I will be able to recognise its details even after the destruction that befell it," she said toÌýTNA.Ìý"I will finally breathe a sigh of relief in my lovely city."Ìý

"I miss walking the streets of my city and going to the beach and feeling the gentle breeze caressing my skin and body [...] I will forget the pain and oppression that I experienced [even if it was for hours] and enjoy being in my city and imagining what it will look like after it is rebuilt," she added.

Safadi believes that Palestinian women in the Gaza Strip no longer have anything but hope, contemplation and optimism that the future will be better and that they will not face more difficulties than they did during Israel's war of extermination.

On the other hand, Sherifa Al-Agha believes that she will not be able to bear living in Gaza any more after all this destruction and devastation and the unbelievable number of deaths.

"As soon as the ceasefire is announced, I will travel outside Gaza and perhaps seek asylum in any country to live in safety away from war, killing and death," she said.

"We have endured more than 17 years of Israeli siege and wars that have killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, destroyed most of our homes and our dreams. I no longer have enough life to venture out again and live here. I have lost everything, and I have the right to look for another place to live in for the rest of my life," she added.