In October, Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire, after two years of war. In the weeks since, sporadic Israeli strikes have killed at least a hundred people in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, but the ceasefire, however fragile, is holding, and so is a semblance of hope. Palestinians are now returning to destroyed city blocks, where services are scarce, and access to water, food, and electricity is limited. The few remaining schools are still doubling as shelters, and local charity groups are trying to circulate aid and other basic resources.

The United Nations estimates that at least 1.9 million people were displaced during the war. One of them is Shahd Shamali, who is twenty years old, and is currently living at a camp in Deir al-Balah, in the center of the Gaza Strip.

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