As new cease-fire negotiations in Egypt draw near, many residents of Gaza find themselves torn between fragile hope and deep skepticism amid ongoing Israeli attacks.
Since the beginning of the year, Rana Salameh, 33, has been staying with her three children in a building in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah which used to serve as a school. They sleep on thin mattresses and cook on small gas stoves.
"Every time there is talk of a cease-fire or negotiations in Egypt, people in the shelter start whispering and hoping that it might finally be over," said Salameh, referring to the war that has been raging in the narrow coastal strip for two years.
"But after so many failed talks, we've learned not to expect too much." She said she has no answer to her children's questions about when they can go back to their home in northern Gaza.
"I want to believe that the talks will bring calm, but I'm afraid of being disappointed again. All I want is to return to our house in Beit Lahia - even if it's damaged - and let my children sleep in their own beds without the sound of bombs."
Mahmud Issa, 54, a vegetable seller at the al-Zawiya market in Gaza City, described how the market, which used to be bustling from morning to evening before the relentless Israeli bombardment began on Oct. 7, 2025, in retaliation to a Hamas attack in southern Israel.
"Every customer who comes by asks me the same question: Have you heard anything from Cairo? People are starving for news, not food," he said.
Everyone wants to believe "that maybe this time the talks will bring an end to the fighting," he explained. "But we've seen this too many times before."
Prices are high, supplies are scarce, and most families cannot even afford tomatoes or onions. "If the bombings stop, maybe I can reopen my entire stall, maybe the fishermen can return to the sea, and maybe the city can breathe again. I'm not asking for much - just peace so we can work and live."
Hanin al-Kudra, a 38-year-old doctor at the Shifa Hospital in embattled Gaza City, described the overwhelming conditions.
"Every day in the hospital feels like an endless emergency," she said. "We receive wounded people around the clock - children, mothers, elderly people - and sometimes we have to treat them on the floor because there aren't enough beds."
Part of her dares to hope when she hears about the talks in Egypt, "that maybe, just maybe, this is the moment when something could change."
But another part of her remains cautious. "We've already experienced too many temporary pauses that ended in more attacks." The medical staff are exhausted, working with almost no supplies and emotionally drained, she reported.
"If these talks could lead to a permanent cease-fire, it would save lives and give us a chance to rebuild the healthcare system. What I fear most is that the world will move on and let Gaza bleed again."
On Monday, talks about U.S. President Donald Trump's peace plan are expected to take place in Egypt. The indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas will focus on an immediate cease-fire and the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian hostages as a first step.
