With no end in sight to their 20-month war, Gazans are feeling forgotten after Iran reached a shaky ceasefire with Israel after only 12 days.
With no powerful allies to push for a truce or an arsenal of sophisticated weaponry to use in defence, Palestinians have been telling The National that they see no light at the end of the tunnel amid daily air strikes, shelling and loss of life.
One analyst is hopeful a conclusion to the conflict will be agreed “in the coming days or next week”, albeit in line with an American and Israeli vision for the region now that Iran is weakened.
For ordinary Gazans, though, it is difficult to picture an end to their struggle amid dire shortages of even the most basic essentials, such as clean water and flour to bake bread.
“We’re still begging for aid to be allowed in, while Iran ended its war in a matter of days,” Rasha Abdel Rahman told The National. She is 25 and lives in a tent in the Sheikh Radwan area of Gaza city after her home was destroyed. “I truly can’t understand why this is happening to us.”
“A nuclear-armed nation ended its war in days,” she told The National. “But here we are in Gaza, stateless, unarmed, struggling for two years with no end in sight.”
Palestinians hope conflict between Iran and Israel spells end to war in Gaza
It remains to be seen whether of not US President Donald Trump's ceasefire between Iran and Israel will hold, but many Palestinians believe there is little hope of a ceasefire in Gaza without a major external power like the US on their side.
“We don’t have a strong ally,” said Amira Nassar, 29, a resident of Gaza's Al Zaytoun neighbourhood. “We don’t even have a real country with borders to defend us. Who cares about us? We’re no longer part of the game. We’re weak and we don’t matter.”
Sami Harara, another Gaza city resident, said it would be a smart choice by Iran to cut its losses and end the conflict. “When a battle turns against you and the losses are too great, you look for a way out. Iran did the right thing,”. he told The National
“So did Hezbollah when it saw that Lebanon was on the verge of ruin,” he added, referring to the Lebanese militia's months-long conflict with Israel last year that saw much of its leadership wiped out.
“Even a painful deal is better than the continued genocide we’re experiencing in Gaza. No price is higher than this.”
Political analyst Talal Abu Rokba hopes for a Gaza ceasefire soon as the Middle East undergoes a strategic realignment now that Iranian power has been diminished.
“The war here is coming to a halt, and what is now taking place is a reordering of the Middle East according to the American vision, one that allows Iran to regroup and recover from the painful military strikes it has endured,” he said.
“This reordering serves the American security outlook and ambitions for the region, as well as Israel’s security vision.”
Mr Abu Rokba said Gaza would be the final issue to resolve in this new order. “As such, discussions will now begin about a temporary truce,” he told The National. “In the coming days or next week, we are likely to see the announcement of a ceasefire
“Israel will continue applying military pressure until Hamas accepts the terms of this new ceasefire, which are expected to be less ambitious than the previous proposal by Witkoff.”
He was referring to Mr Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, who presented a ceasefire proposal that was rejected by Hamas last month.
The analyst said the Israel-Iran war was “now prompting serious thinking about the outcomes of the 'day after' in Gaza, the features of which will become clearer in the next two months”.
