Ceasefire brings relief, anxiety to Canadians with family in Gaza and Israel

It wasn't the fighting that killed Hamdi Ashour's loved ones in Gaza.

It was cancer that took the lives of both his sister andnephew in the last year in both cases, says the 53-year-oldOakville, Ont., resident,because they were unable to getdesperately needed medicines.

The reason, he says, is theblockade imposed byIsrael and Egyptafter Hamasconsolidated its control over the territory in 2007. No ceasefire would have saved them, he said.

"Israel controls electricity, food, water supply and produce comes in and medicine," Ashour told CBC News."So it's only going to be better if people are going to get medication, if people are going to leave and come."

During the 11 days of fighting, Gaza's health ministrysays, at least 243 Palestinians were killed, including 66 children, with 1,910 people wounded. Twelve Israelis were killed,including a five-year-old boy and 16-year-old girl.

Early Friday morning, a ceasefire went into effect,endingfighting that caused widespread destruction in Gaza and brought life in much of Israel to a standstill. Images of celebration poured in fromGaza at news of the delicate truce.

WATCH | Celebrations follow news of ceasefire:

Ceasefire celebrations in Gaza's streets

3 years ago

Duration 0:32

People in Gaza City gathered early Friday morning to mark the beginning of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

But after days of hearing just snippets from his relatives there and seeingphotos of the destruction,Ashourworriesthe deal reached between the two sides won't necessarily mean safety for his family.

"[I get] no sleep. My body shakes all the time. It's been beyond depressing," he told CBC News.

A father of four, Ashourmoved to Canada in 1986 as an international student from Gaza, where his siblings and their families remain.

The recent violence was the worst his family has ever witnessed in Gaza, he says.

• WATCH Israel and Hamas agree to a truce. What was the conflict about?

Like many others, several of hisfamily's homeswere destroyed. During one attack, he says, his relatives weregiven just a five-minute warning to evacuate their home. They returned to find their four apartments, as well as their family workshop, completely ruined.

"The only thing they have is the clothes they ran out with," he said.

With the fighting paused, it will be up to them to begin to rebuild a pattern Palestinians have becomeaccustomed to over the years.

"We don't really have a welfare system back home. Once a home is demolished, it's up to the people who used to live there to come up with the money to build it."

Still, he says, the ceasefire is welcome news.

"People are just happy they aren't being bombed anymore."

Hamas 'has taken advantage of the people'

KfirLavie, a Jewish Israeli who grew up in Tel Aviv and moved to Toronto two years ago, spoke toCBCMetro Morning producerSalmaIbrahimFriday morning, moments after news broke of the ceasefire.

Though he feels Israel's siege on Gaza should be stopped, Lavie saysthe militant groupHamasis preventing peace.

"[Hamas] has taken advantage of the people, harming the poor people in Gaza and taking advantage of the situation and by that causing them to be under siege," he said.

Laviesaid he's "terribly sorry" for the loss of innocent lives during the conflict, as well as the pain inflicted against the wounded.

But he says the agenda of Hamas is the "destruction of Israel" and that "no one is telling Hamas within the Palestinians'enough'."

You can listen tothe full conversation betweenLavieandShireen Salti, a Palestinian Christian who now lives in Toronto, here:

Ceasefire faces early test

Friday's ceasefire faced an early test when clashes broke out between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police following Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which is built on a hilltop site sacred to both Muslims and Jews. Clashes there earlier this month were one of the main triggers for the hostilities.

Toronto's Rachel Small says she feels "cautiously hopeful" given the ceasefire, but wants to see more done.

"People continue to be displaced from their lands. People continue to be unable to travel, to work," said Small, who is with the organization World Beyond War, which describes itself as agrassroots network of anti-war activists focused on worldwide peace.

"I come to my solidarity with Palestinians very much as a Jewish person, also as a parentand as a human who will not stand by and allow this to happen."

On Friday morning, Small and other organizers staged a protest at the Israeli consulate in Toronto,covering the consulate's steps in a display of red paint to signify the "bloodshed from Israel's violence in Gaza and across historic Palestine."

"The problems continue even as the bombs stop falling," Small said.

Rabbi David Mivasair, a member of the groupIndependent Jewish Voices, was there too.

He says he sawthe protest as a way to change the narrative to show many in theJewish community are also "grieving, heartbroken and angry and doing what we can bring about positive change."

"I'm glad there's a ceasefire, but no one should think for a moment that that solves the problem," Mivasair said. He iscalling on the federal government to do more, includingrevisingits free-trade agreement with Israel to exclude products from illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and ending the sale of weapons to the Israelis.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau tweeted Thursday night that Canada welcomesthe ceasefire, while calling for "a renewed commitment to peace."

"We are appalled by the tragic loss of life and urge all sides to further de-escalate tensions," he wrote in the tweet.

Rebuilding will take years, tech startup CEO says

Khaled Sabawi, founder of the Toronto-based technology startup Open Screenplay, says itwill take years to rebuild after the destruction.

This week, the company's satellite office in Gaza was hit by an Israeli airstrike. None of Sabawi's employees were hurt or killed.

"We'll continue to hire developers in Gaza and we definitely will rebuild our office," he said Friday.

"The bombs may have stopped falling but the blockade remains."

Yara Shoufani, from Palestinian Youth Movement, saystensions remain high and she worries that stability remains far away.

"There's still so much injustice," she said. "Peace is not just the absence of war it requires justice."