Gaza: Woman living in Oxford ‘relieved’ by ceasefire deal
After 15 months of war the truce is expected to come into effect on Sunday, 19 January
Last updated 16th Jan 2025
A woman from Gaza who lives in Oxford hopes is “relieved” by the ceasefire agreement and hopes it means she won't receive another call that someone in her family has been killed.
Sawsan Elarbashly’s family are still living in the Gaza Strip, including her two teenage sons aged 16 and 17.
"You feel all the world has collapsed"
Ms Elarbashly, 43, was born in Gaza and has been living in Oxford city for the last 13 years, she said: “It makes me a bit relieved because it’s been a nightmare. Every night I’ve had to wake up just to check my phone and see if they are still safe and that they’re alive.”
She added: “I’m over the moon because I’m going to find that I can go to sleep and stop thinking for a bit that I need to contact my family every day. At least you know that they’re not going to die.”
More than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed during the war, health officials say.
Ms Elarbashly said: “My boys lost their uncle; he was a doctor and was working in the hospital " She says he was killed when a bomb hit it.
“To lose someone is not easy at all, you feel all the world has collapsed.”
It’s reported a further 110,265 Palestinians have reportedly been injured, meaning one in every 14 Palestinians has been killed or wounded since the war began.
“I am afraid to go to sleep if something happens and because I keep checking the local area where they’ve had bombs, some of the nights I barely have one or two hours sleep”, Ms Elarbashly added.
The deal promises the release of dozens of hostages held by Hamas in phases, the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israel and would allow hundreds of thousands of people displaced in Gaza to return to what remains of their homes.
It would also bring much needed humanitarian aid into a territory ravaged by 15 months of war.
Kier Starmer: "Long-overdue"
Sir Keir Starmer has welcomed the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal as "long-overdue news" and paid tribute to British citizens who were killed during the conflict in the Middle East.
In a statement on Wednesday evening, the Prime Minister said: "After months of devastating bloodshed and countless lives lost, this is the long-overdue news that the Israeli and Palestinian people have desperately been waiting for.
"They have borne the brunt of this conflict - triggered by the brutal terrorists of Hamas, who committed the deadliest massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust on October 7 2023.
"The hostages, who were brutally ripped from their homes on that day and held captive in unimaginable conditions ever since, can now finally return to their families. But we should also use this moment to pay tribute to those who won't make it home - including the British people who were murdered by Hamas. We will continue to mourn and remember them.
"For the innocent Palestinians whose homes turned into a warzone overnight and the many who have lost their lives, this ceasefire must allow for a huge surge in humanitarian aid, which is so desperately needed to end the suffering in Gaza.
"And then our attention must turn to how we secure a permanently better future for the Israeli and Palestinian people - grounded in a two-state solution that will guarantee security and stability for Israel, alongside a sovereign and viable Palestine state.
"The UK and its allies will continue to be at the forefront of these crucial efforts to break the cycle of violence and secure long-term peace in the Middle East."
Biden: "One of the toughest negotiations I’ve experienced"
US President, Joe Biden says his administration and Donald Trump's team were "speaking as one team" in negotiations on the Gaza ceasefire deal.
In a statement outside the White House yesterday evening, Biden announced: “This is a ceasefire agreement I introduced last Spring, and today Hamas and Israel have agreed to that ceasefire agreement and the whole ending of the war.”
He added: “I’ve worked in foreign policy for decades and this is one of the toughest negotiations I’ve experienced.”