Live updates: Israel and Hamas agree on ceasefire and hostage crisis in Gaza, source says

Abdul Rahman Salama is one of thousands of Palestinians in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, struggling to save supplies during the harsh winter. People here are wondering what might happen next after mediators said Hamas and Israel were the closest to a ceasefire and hostage-taking agreement in months.

As Abu Samir walks through his devastated neighborhood, a place he says residents no longer recognize, he asks about the day after the fighting ended.

According to the United Nations, the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has been raging for 15 months, turning Gaza into a wasteland and displacing at least 90% of Palestinians since October 2023. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, more than 46,000 people were killed – mostly women and children.

The death toll is likely to be much higher: A study published last week in the journal The Lancet estimates that more than 64,000 people were killed in Gaza between October 7, 2023 and June 30, 2024 alone.

Saba Ahmed Abu Ouda said her friends were killed early in the war in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza. She lived in a school building that was converted into a refugee camp.

“We used to play together, make lunch, do our homework and study,” she said. “I’m sad I won’t find her when I go home.”

Noor, 12, said she was displaced seven times during the war and wants to see what happened to her school friend, who she hadn’t heard from for a year after her home was destroyed.

“I just want to go home. I want my things, my toys, my memories,” she said.

Um Mohammad Abu Ubeid knows their home in the largely flattened southern city of Rafah probably didn’t survive, but still dreams of returning.