Anxiety in Gaza and Israel as Cease-Fire Nears End of First Phase

Shamekh al-Dibs has not begun rebuilding his home in northern Gaza, which was destroyed last year.He is living in a nearby school turned into a shelter for displaced Gazans, grappling with a deep uncertainty over whether this tense calm will last.The first phase of the cease-fire elapses on Saturday night and there have been few signs of progress in talks on the next steps.

This leaves both Israelis and Palestinians in limbo, not knowing how long the truce will hold after the first series of hostage-for-prisoner exchanges was completed early Thursday morning.“Our only hope is that the cease-fire continues,” said Mr.al-Dibs, 36 and currently unemployed.For now, the first six-week phase of the cease-fire is set to conclude without a clear framework to take its place.

That does not necessarily mean an immediate return to war: The agreement says the truce can continue as long as negotiators are working on the next steps.But it makes the already fragile pause in the fighting more precarious.Extending the deal will entail tackling much thornier issues, such as a permanent end to the war and the reconstruction of Gaza.

Under the terms of the phased agreement, Israel would effectively have to declare an end to its war against Hamas in order to secure the release of some two dozen hostages believed to still be alive.For the families of Israeli captives, the prospect of their loved ones’ release is both closer than ever before and agonizingly distant.They are well aware that formidable obstacles remain to securing their freedom given the lack of an agreement on the second phase of the deal.“By Sunday, we’ll be in no man’s land,” said Adi Alexander, whose American Israeli son, Edan Alexander, has been held in Gaza for more than 500 days.

“It was left blurry on purpose, and it’s still blurry,” he said of this element of the cease-fire agreement.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank yo...