After 15 months of war that left much of the Palestinian coastal enclave in ruins, celebrations broke out across the Gaza Strip as a long-awaited ceasefire came into effect.

The ceasefire came into effect at 11:15 am (0915 GMT) on Sunday after Hamas, through mediators, handed over to Israel a list of three female captives to be released as part of the deal.

"My joy is immeasurable," said Gaza resident Om Salah.

"From the moment they announced the ceasefire, I quickly packed everything because I was preparing to travel to Gaza City. My children were very excited to go see our families, our relatives and our land," she told Al Jazeera.

"Here we are always scared and worried, but back home we are happy and joy comes back to our lives."

"Everyone is happy, especially the children," said a young Palestinian.

"Hopefully the Israelis will not violate the ceasefire in the coming days," he told Al Jazeera.

He said all he wanted to do now was finish school. "This genocide destroyed a lot of dreams."

"We keep it alive"

Health workers and aid workers in Gaza were also seen celebrating in the streets. Video shared online and confirmed by Al Jazeera showed several civil defense teams chanting the national anthem and raising victory signs.

"There have been no violations since the ceasefire came into effect," Al Jazeera's Hani Mahmoud reported outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah.

"No more bombs, no more fighter jets, no more drones. The only gunfire we heard was from the celebrations in the streets - there was a lot of gunfire and fireworks," he said.

Before the ceasefire came into effect, Israeli forces killed at least 19 more Palestinians and wounded dozens more on Sunday, bringing the total death toll in the 15-month genocide to nearly 47,000. Palestinian and human rights groups say the actual death toll is likely much higher.

A Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023 killed at least 1,139 people in Israel and captured approximately 250 people.

Al Jazeera's Hind Khoudary reported from Khan Younis that Palestinians in the southern city of Rafah described the destruction caused by Israel there as "enormous".

"They don't even know where their community is," she said.

"Despite this, people are happy. You see everyone smiling, you see everyone chanting slogans, and most Palestinians are saying: 'We have risen from this war.'"

'Uncertainty and anxiety'

Al Jazeera reporter Mahmoud reported that in the courtyard of the hospital where he was reporting, Palestinian families had begun dismantling their tents and returning to their homes that had been forced to evacuate due to relentless Israeli bombing.

"What we see here is families excitedly collecting their belongings - everything they managed to collect while they were in hospital. Their faces are filled with excitement as they leave the hospital doors," he added.

Anwar, a displaced Palestinian man living in Khan Younis who did not give his last name, said he hoped to return to Rafah despite reports that his home had been destroyed.

"I would go there and look for a place to pitch a tent and live with my family of eight," he told Al Jazeera. "I need to go back to my city. I need to go back to where I was born."

Anwar said the months of war had been a "nightmare". "It was just a nightmare, it was like we were in a dream and then we stood up again," Anwar said.

He said he and his family were living in crude tents without enough food and water and that prices for goods were "horrendously high."

Nour Saqqa, a displaced Palestinian woman from Gaza City, said she had "extremely mixed feelings."

"We are not yet completely reassured, not only because of how stressful these 15 months have been, but also because of the ceasefire itself - the fact that the ceasefire was fragmented and not announced and implemented all at once," Sarkar told Al Jazeera in Rafah.

Saka said the fact that she and other Palestinians in Gaza City were still not allowed to return to their homes during the first phase of the ceasefire was causing "increased psychological pressure."

“We have been living with this uncertainty and anxiety, and even this relief is not complete.”