Tunisians wave Palestinian flags with a cut out of Yahya Sinwar outside the Municipal Theatre in the capital Tunis after the Gaza ceasefire agreement was announced [Yassine Gaidi/Anadolu via Getty]
Celebrations broke out across the Middle East and North Africa after a ceasefire was announced to end Israel’s 15-month war on Gaza.
Thousands of people participated in marches and vigils across their countries, including Jordan, Syria, Morocco, Lebanon, Tunisia and elsewhere, waving the Palestinian flag and chanting pro-Palestinian slogans.
For more than 460 days, the Israeli military has dropped bombs on the coastal enclave and carried out a crushing ground offensive, displacing practically all of its two million population, killing close to 47,000 people – mostly women and children – and resulting in the spread of disease and famine.
Mediators from the US, Qatar and Egypt announced on Wednesday night that a ceasefire and swap deal was reached and would go into effect on Sunday.
Jordanians gather near the Israeli embassy
Many in Jordan gathered outside Al Kalouty Mosque near the Israeli embassy in the capital Amman, which has been the focus of protests since the war started.
The ceasefire “represents a victory achieved by the Palestinian people and the resistance that defeated the occupying [Israeli] entity and its allies in America and Europe,” said Murad al-Adaileh Muslim Brotherhood official in Jordan, according to The New Arab‘s Arabic edition Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
“Today, Hamas confirms that the road to liberation has begun and will not stop until they conquer Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque,” he added.
Jordan and Israel share diplomatic ties, but tensions have seriously grown between them due to the Gaza onslaught, with the Jordanian king repeatedly calling on Israel to stop its attacks and warning against any attempt to further expel the Palestinians from their lands.
In September last year, a Jordanian truck driver carried out a shooting at the main bridge connecting Jordan to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, killing three Israeli border guards.
Moroccans call for an end to normalisation deal
Several cities across Morocco, including Casablanca, Safi, Tangier, Fez and more witnessed vigils and marches in main squares and outside mosques.
Celebrants distributed dates, waved flags and sang chants in support of the Palestinians.
Despite Morocco and Israel establishing relations in 2020, Moroccans have gone out in protest frequently in support of the Palestinians, calling for an end to the Gaza war and calling on their government to suspend ties.
In the capital Rabat, activists gathered in front of the parliament building to celebrate the “victory of the resistance,” raising Palestinian and Moroccan flags, pictures of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and banners denouncing the normalisation deal.
The activists said that by declaring a ceasefire, “the Palestinian resistance has achieved a historic victory over the criminal Zionist enemy, which failed to achieve its war goals”.
Syrians celebrate Gaza after Assad’s fall
People took to the streets in Damascus, Homs, Aleppo and Idlib to celebrate the announcement of the Gaza ceasefire.
Celebrants gathered in the capital’s main Umayyad Square, amid fireworks and the sounds of mosque azans, chanting “Free Palestine” and “We sacrifice [ourselves] for you, oh Aqsa.”
Syrians themselves are still jubilant over the fall of the Assad regime early last month, ending the Baathist party’s ruthless five-decade-old rule. The country is still reeling from a nearly 14-year-old conflict which spiralled into a civil war after regime forces brutally cracked down on democracy protests.
In southwestern Syria, Israeli forces have captured more territory around the already occupied Golan Heights, now controlling the Syrian side of Mount Hermon and swathes of the adjacent Quneitra governorate.
First Lebanon, now Gaza
People marched through Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon soon after the ceasefire was announced, waving the flags of Palestine as well as political groups Hamas and Fatah.
Celebrations in camps near Beirut were marred by violence after celebratory gunfire left several people wounded in nearby areas in the city’s southern suburbs. Palestinian factions are responsible for the camps’ security in Lebanon.
Other Lebanese cities including Tripoli, Sidon and towns in the Beqaa witnessed celebrations, with people waving flags and lighting fireworks.
Lebanon itself witnessed a devastating war with Israel last year. The cross-border fighting between Israel and the Shia militant group Hezbollah erupted over Gaza in October 2023 but dramatically escalated into a full-out war in September, ending with a ceasefire deal on 27 November.
Tunisia celebrates
Celebrants also gathered in front of the Municipal Theatre in the capital’s main Habib Bourguiba avenue, waving flags and chanting in support of Palestine.
A cutout of Hamas’ Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar who was assassinated by Israel in Rafah last year was also present at the Tunis gathering.
Tunisians have also regularly gone out in protest against Israel’s war on Gaza, demanding an end to the violence.
Celebrations took place elsewhere in the region and across the world, with the Gaza war raising awareness of the Palestinian cause and decades-long suffering of the Palestinian people, prompting million-strong marches.
