"Late on October 8, 2025, while everyone else in the house was asleep, I lay awake scrolling through my phone and journalist chat groups for updates. There were conflicting accounts from the ceasefire talks of progress, setbacks, hope and doubt. As my phone battery dwindled, I finally drifted off to sleep, stirred occasionally by distant shelling that told me what my phone couldn't."
"When I awoke just before dawn on October 9, my wi-fi was dead. I rushed to the roof, searching for an eSIM signal. The sun was rising as updates loaded onto my phone, and there it was: Announcement of a ceasefire agreement in Gaza to take effect within hours. I looked at the houses and tents where everyone still slept, saddened that we were the last to know. Then joy hit me. Wake up, the war is over, I shouted. Swear it?"
Late on October 8, 2025, I stayed awake following conflicting ceasefire updates and slept fitfully to distant shelling. Before dawn on October 9 my wi‑fi failed and an eSIM signal revealed a ceasefire agreement set to take effect within hours. Family members displaced from the north were awakened with disbelief and my nine‑year‑old daughter cried tears of joy. The day coincided with a postponed wedding for a friend who had been engaged during a February truce and had lost all belongings a week earlier when her family fled south from the Shati refugee camp. Small celebrations and cups of coffee provided brief relief amid uncertainty and loss.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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