oneResidents of the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus are breathing a sigh of relief after 15 months of watching their loved ones suffer in Gaza. The war in the besieged Palestinian territories is coming to an end.

"It lifted our spirits to hear that the fighting was finally stopping. We didn't have any jobs or money, but now we at least have something to make us happy, and now you can hear people laughing in the streets," said Live in Ye said Rbeia Abu Hmeida, a 45-year-old Palestinian refugee in the Ermouk refugee camp.

About 90 percent of Syrians live in poverty, and Yarmouk residents are among the poorest in the country, according to United Nations data. The camp still bears the scars of battles with regime forces a decade ago, with stray dogs crawling among the destroyed buildings, most of which are uninhabitable.

Despite limited financial resources, Yarmouk residents celebrated the end of the fighting in Gaza - to which they feel a strong connection - by handing out candy in the streets. As they witness the suffering of Gaza's people over the past 15 months, they recall the fierce fighting between armed factions and Bashar al-Assad's forces during the Syrian civil war.

"We couldn't cross this street before; now we can't cross it," Abu Hmeida said. "Regiment snipers will shoot at you." We couldn't even go out to the streets to pick up the bodies, so we had to watch the dogs eat them, just like in Gaza. "

Residents of the refugee camp found many similarities between their experiences and those of their relatives in Gaza. As fighting in Yarmouk intensified, Assad's regime imposed a harsh siege on the camp, cutting off the flow of basic supplies into the densely populated area. Residents who did not flee became emaciated, left to graze on grass and wild plants as food disappeared. Some people died of starvation.

Assad's forces systematically dismantled the camp's infrastructure and cut off municipal water and electricity. At checkpoints, soldiers would arbitrarily arrest people, jail them for years and often torture them.

"Helicopters would shoot at the water tanks on our roofs, they would rip the phone wires out of the ground and steal them so they could sell them," said 60-year-old Yarmouk resident Tawfiq Youssef Farah Taufiq Youssef Falah said he was responsible for transporting construction equipment.

Farah was arrested by Syrian regime soldiers during the siege of Yarmouk because they suspected he was a fighter because of his muscular build. After three years in the detention center, the laborer's muscles have disappeared and his right arm has nerve damage from torture, making him unable to grasp things properly.

In 2014, Amnesty International condemned the Assad regime for bombing civilian infrastructure, cutting off power supplies, and using civilian starvation "as a weapon of war."

A decade later, Human Rights Watch accused the Israeli military of using similar tactics in Gaza. A report in January said Israeli forces "injured, starved and forcibly displaced Palestinian civilians ... and destroyed their homes, schools, hospitals and infrastructure". Human rights groups have been calling on the Israeli military to allow much-needed aid to enter the besieged Gaza Strip and reach civilians, but Israel has blocked this aid since October 2023, creating famine-like conditions.

"The suffering in Gaza is no different from what we suffer in Syria. I suffer just like the people of Gaza," Farah said.

Assad's regime has positioned itself firmly within the "Axis of Resistance," a loose alliance of Iran-linked forces across the Middle East that includes Hezbollah and the Houthis who aim to defend Palestine. As Assad has become a global pariah, he has claimed he is the victim of a global conspiracy, in part because of his staunch defense of Palestine.

Those Palestinians who live under his rule scoff at the idea that Assad is a defender of their rights. "Bashar al-Assad says he supports the axis of resistance and that he helps defend Palestine. Ha! That's not the case. His whole behavior is contradictory," Farah said.

On October 8, 2023, Assad did not join Hezbollah in the fight against Israel. Instead, he launched a new round of air strikes on opposition-held areas in northwest Syria, claiming that the Syrian opposition was supported by Israel. The airstrikes displaced more than 120,000 people.

Celebrations were generally muted, although residents of Yarmouk were candid in expressing their joy at the ceasefire in Gaza. There were several posters with relatives of those killed fighting for Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza, but no Palestinian flag was visible.

"Usually Palestinian factions organize marches and celebrations, but[Sham al-Sham, the dominant faction in the new Syrian government]have frozen their activities, so we are not sure who is in charge now," said Mohammed Qubsi ), 33, former Syrian army soldier.

Uncertainty also remains about Israel's intentions in Syria. Immediately after the fall of the Assad regime, Israeli forces entered a UN-mediated buffer zone. Syria's new authorities have called on Israel to leave the buffer zone and Syrian territory in accordance with a 1974 agreement between the two countries. The rebels, who are still building their national army, have little ability to confront Israel militarily. On Wednesday, the Israeli military carried out airstrikes against Syrian security forces, killing two officers and a local official.

Still, Yarmouk residents say they expect the situation in Syria and the region as a whole to improve with the ceasefire in Gaza. "I am optimistic that the situation will improve here and in Gaza. At least, morale has improved," Qubusi said.