Khan Younis, Gaza Strip – For the first time in a long time, Palestinian mother Wiam al-Masri can clearly recognise the cries of her infant son, Samih, who is not yet two months old. His soft wailing rises in the quiet air of al-Mawasi, in southern Khan Younis, hours after Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of the peace plan brokered by US President Donald Trump to end the Gaza war – largely halting Israeli air and artillery strikes and ushering in an unfamiliar calm.

After two years of war that left more than 67,190 people dead – an assault the United Nations described as genocide – Palestinians in Gaza are beginning to celebrate a long-awaited silence. The agreement has dramatically reduced the constant shelling and the buzzing of warplanes that have dominated the skies s

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