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As soon as Arij al-Farra heard that Hamas had conditionally acceded to Donald Trump's initiative and that the United States had instructed Israel to halt bombing in Gaza, her first response was a spark of hope. Moments after that, she experienced an explosion. An Israeli warplane had dropped a munition near her shelter in southern Gaza.

Although chance saved al-Farra from death, she viewed the attack as an negative sign for peace possibilities in the territory.

"I feel like we are trapped in a situation with little way out. Regardless of Hamas accepts or refuses, we remain unsafe. There has been no reduction in bombing raids, no Israeli aircraft has withdrawn from the sky," explained the young English teacher who had been forced to flee to Khan Younis.

Al-Farra was not the only one in her skepticism regarding Friday's announcement that Hamas's partial acceptance of the US president's plan would result in an conclusion to the nearly two-year war in Gaza.

Hamas's agreement to free all captives and surrender authority was hailed by the US administration and many in the global community as a significant step toward resolution.

However the people of Gaza have experienced similar circumstances before.

Several times, Trump has promised that a truce was imminent, only for talks to abruptly collapse. Israel violated a six-week pause at the beginning of the year when it unilaterally decided to restart hostilities in March and blockade the territory, creating starvation in parts of Gaza, according to prominent food security organizations.

"I hold little faith in this deal, because whenever we approach a truce, an event happens that changes the direction of arrangements," al-Farra clarified.

Despite these reservations, some could not avoid hope that this development might ultimately lead to an conclusion to the conflict that has claimed over 67,000 people, injured about 170,000 others, and resulted in the majority of Gaza in ruins.

"I am optimistic and expect that this time the deal will be more substantial than earlier attempts," stated Abu Faris, a middle-aged video editor living in the northern part of the territory. "A breakthrough in the truce agreement would be a positive outcome. It would meet the demands of the Palestinian people and provide residents in northern Gaza a sense of optimism and safety."

If fully enacted, Trump's proposal to halt the hostilities in Gaza would be extremely unfavorable to Hamas and additional militant groups.

"There is a sense of mistrust because this initiative was drafted by US officials and the conflict itself has persisted with evident American support. The plan obviously serves Israel's interests and lacks any meaningful provisions for the Palestinians," commented Dr. Ashraf Maghari, a middle-aged academic at the Islamic University.

However, for the majority of the exhausted residents of Gaza, neither politics nor the survival of Hamas was the main concern.

"My main goal now is to end the conflict completely. If Hamas has to make concessions to accomplish that, then it must accept the consequences of its decisions," stated Abu Faris.

He had previously lost numerous of his family members in the hostilities, and had been forced to move repeatedly, on every occasion coming back to find his home more damaged. He might stand to lose even more if hostilities did not end soon, as he was in the northern region, where Israeli bombardment are intense.

Multiple international bodies, including a UN commission, several human rights groups, and prominent atrocity experts have determined that Israel has carried out atrocities in Gaza. Israel rejects the allegation and states it has only acted in self-protection. It originally began the war on Gaza after militant fighters killed about 1,200 individuals and took 251 prisoners in an attack on 7 October 2023.

None Abu Faris nor al-Farra believed that Israel would engage in talks an conclusion to the conflict in sincerity, nor that it would lead to self-determination for the Palestinian people. For al-Farra especially, the idea of disarmament was a worrying issue.

Nonetheless, if it led to an end to the almost relentless shelling of their communities, both expressed that the agreement would be worth it.

"Ending the war for me is not just about silencing our rights. It is about having a deep breath, restructuring ourselves, our existence, our priorities and our perspectives," al-Farra concluded.