STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
For the past two years of war in Gaza, Israel generally kept out international correspondents. Any stories we received from inside the territory came from journalists who lived in Gaza who had to remain there or who chose to stay. One was NPR's Anas Baba, who now has a picture of life since the start of the ceasefire.
ANAS BABA, BYLINE: Nothing looks the same in Gaza after two years of war. Everywhere you look are mounds of rubble and bombed buildings. But there is one thing here that hasn't changed, the sea.
(SOUNDBITE OF OCEAN SWAYING)
BABA: It's the one constant in Gaza, a refuge for the suffocation of daily life where Palestinians say we can breathe a little easier. Shaimaa Abu Salama (ph) is with her toddler at the beach. They are with friends, having picnic. They have brought chips, biscuits, luxuries that weren't possible during the war.
SHAIMAA ABU SALAMA: (Non-English language spoken).
BABA: She says coming here is therapeutic after two years of war. Her husband is among the tens of thousands of people killed in the war. And while Abu Salama is breathing a little easier today, she doesn't know what tomorrow will bring.
ABU SALAMA: (Non-English language spoken).
BABA: She says this is a complex ceasefire, with the next phase still unclear and the future of Gaza still unknown.
ABU SALAMA: (Non-English language spoken).
BABA: Which she says makes this feel like a temporary respite. President Trump says the war is over, that this is a new beginning for an entire beautiful Middle East. But just last weekend, two Israeli soldiers were killed, prompting Israel to launch airstrikes across Gaza that killed at least 46 people. Gaza's Health Ministry says that since the ceasefire came into effect on October 11, 89 people have been killed by Israeli fire, about half of them in areas where Israeli troops are still positioned deep inside the territory, in neighborhoods people want to return to.
(SOUNDBITE OF DRONES BUZZING)
BABA: Israeli surveillance drones still scan the skies above Gaza, but they are not accompanied by constant airstrikes anymore. And that means the Palestinian zaffa. Traditional wedding music is being played again.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
BABA: People were getting married in Gaza during the war, but ceremonies were muted and clothed in grief.
ABDELRAHMAN AL-REEFY: (Non-English language spoken).
BABA: Twenty-eight-year-old groom Abdelrahman Al-Reefy says this is the happiest day of his life. He met his wife among the tents where they were both displaced. He once had his own apartment, but it was destroyed in Israeli airstrikes. The couple will be living in a room in his family home. He says this war wasn't just on Hamas, it was on all of Gaza.
AL-REEFY: (Non-English language spoken).
BABA: Al-Reefy says his neighborhood is within range of where Israeli troops have pulled back. He says he has seen them opening fire, something the Israeli military said it would do to anyone approaching. The ceasefire provides a narrow window to have a wedding, he says. But he doesn't see this as the start of a new life just yet. Like many in Gaza, he doesn't believe the war has ended. Gaza's ceasefire is on shaky grounds, with difficult days of negotiation still ahead. And while more food is entering Gaza these days, it's mostly commercial goods from Israel, not U.N. aid.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Non-English language spoken).
BABA: For the first time in months, there is frozen meat and fresh produce like bananas, avocados and bell peppers for sale on the market. Many children are seeing these foods for the first time. These colorful markets are resuscitating Gaza after months of starvation, another sign of life returning. And at this beach cafe in Gaza City, where more than 30 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike in May, the sound of music rings out and life continues.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HKAYTAK EIH")
AMR DIAB: (Singing in Arabic).
BABA: But Israeli naval ships can be seen in the distance. They are a constant presence here, just like the sea.
Anas Baba, NPR News, Gaza City.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HKAYTAK EIH")
DIAB: (Singing in Arabic). Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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