When Manal Rizq called her brother Waleed in Gaza this afternoon, there was music playing in the background.
This is not usual, but news of a peace deal and an impending ceasefire has led to impromptu celebrations in the tented camp in Khan Younis where her mother, two brothers and their families live.
"Usually they cannot put the music on loud, but now they are not afraid, they're trying to live that feeling," Manal explained.
Manal asked on the video call: "How are you feeling now Waleed?"
"We are very happy to hear the ceasefire is finally here," he replied.
For the past few weeks Manal and Waleed have been documenting their lives for RTÉ News.
Manal is a 25-year-old smart systems engineer, originally from Rafah in Gaza, who is now living in Dublin.
Waleed is her 31-year old brother, who works as an emergency care nurse in Khan Younis, where the family members still in Gaza moved during the war.
Their home in Rafah was destroyed in the conflict and now Waleed, his wife Amna and their three children, Eileen and twins Lena and Lana, his mother and siblings' families live together in tents.
In a video today, he described how, for the past two years, they had "lived in fear".
"Now we can finally dream of a safe life for my three little girls where they can sleep, learn and just be kids again," he said.
"I hope we can rebuild our lives and that I will see my sister Manal soon and hug her again," he said.
Just last weekend he had described how "every day" had brought "new challenges and pain".
"The hospital is full of injured people and we often work under bombing, with limited supplies and no rest. It is physically and emotionally exhausting but we keep going because I know that every minute can save a life," he said.
'I believe in you'
In Dublin, Manal spoke of how proud she was of her eldest brother.
Indeed it was Waleed who encouraged Manal to leave Gaza to pursue her studies in March 2024, despite her own reluctance to leave her family.
"He told me, it's ok Manal, you can do it, I believe in you," Manal recalled.
Having graduated top of her class Smart Systems Engineering at the Islamic University in Gaza, Manal was offered three scholarships; one in Italy, where she had previously studied for a semester; one in Hungary; and one in Ireland.
She chose Ireland and has now completed her Master's in Entrepreneurship at the National College of Ireland in Dublin and is now completing an internship as a Software Development Engineer.
"The best thing: Ireland has opened for me many closed doors, so it has given me opportunities to achieve my dreams", Manal said.
"The worst thing... I have to be separated logically between my body here and my soul there (in Gaza)," she told RTÉ News.
She described how in recent months she learned that her aunt and three cousins had been killed in the conflict and at the same time she had a deadline for a project that was a part of her internship.
"You know you have to do your work in your time. My situation cannot prevent me to do what I have to do, so in this moment I wanted to cry, I wanted just to sit alone and without doing anything, but this is not my right," she said.
Via her Instagram and pop-up restaurant Madleen, Manal has been sharing Palestinian food as a way of raising awareness and money to send back home.
"When I'm making the food it reminds me of when I'm eating with my family, it reminds me of my Mum," Manal said.
Before news of the impending ceasefire, Manal said that her life dreams of being a "famous woman" with many "achievements" had been replaced by one singular wish:
"I hope to see my family again," she said.
Today she seemed more optimistic that she could achieve both.
But aware that there have been ceasefires before and failed peace efforts, Manal remained cautious about what comes next.
She knew too that it may still be some time before she is reunited with her beloved family, but nevertheless her feelings were those of relief and hope.
"I cannot believe I will sleep without (being scared) for loosing one of my family at the night. I cannot imagine this nightmare will stop... I am so happy, I am so glad to have this news and I hope that this ceasefire will not break at any moment."
