For the first time in more than a year, war-displaced Gazan Ammar Barbakh awoke on Monday feeling refreshed after a night spent in a tent, but free of Israeli attacks.

"This is the first time I sleep comfortably and I'm not afraid," Barbakh, 35, told AFP a day after a fragile truce in the Israel-Hamas war took hold.

"We didn't hear any shelling, and we weren't afraid," he said.

Barbakh, from Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, pitched a tent on the rubble of his former home.

Despite the destruction, he was thrilled to have had a peaceful sleep.

"It's a beautiful feeling, and I hope the ceasefire continues", said Barbakh.

Thousands of displaced Palestinians like him have headed back to their home areas across the Gaza Strip since the ceasefire came into effect on Sunday.

For Samer Daloul, "it was the first night we........

© Al Monitor