For some reason I thought that it might be different, that things were going to change. My optimism however, is already fading. Nothing seems to have changed since the ceasefire; the 1.5 million people who live here are still caged in one of the most populated strips of land in the world.

In spite of this truce nothing seems to be new. Thousands of people cannot work, thousands do not have a permanent water or electricity supply, and hundreds of doctors do not have the resources that they need to do their jobs. In fact there has been less coming into Gaza now than since before the ceasefire.

Some things on the ground, however, have changed. Whether or not this is linked to the truce, I do not know. The latest, is the rationing of fuel. Upon registering your car and yourself the ministry of transport issue you with a coupon. This coupon entitles you to 10 litres of fuel when you present it at the petrol station. You can only get another coupon every few weeks and 10 litres of fuel does not get you very far. So, I have decided not to use my car at all. It is on standby for my entire family, in the event of an emergency.

Recently, I have been OK; it is my wife that I am worried about. The constant headaches and fatigue remain. We have now seen many doctors to try and find out what the cause is of all of this. Thankfully she was able to get a scan. The results showed a lump in the back of her neck.

Fortunately, we have been told that it is nothing serious. The doctor said that even he suffers from similar symptoms, as do 80 per cent of the people who he treats. The lump in her neck is a symptom of the stress that she has endured. When you look back at our lives, especially over the last year, it is no surprise. Our life, our story, is full of stress, fear, and worry ...

"What are you doing to deal with the stress?" I asked the doctor in the hope of finding a solution to my wife's discomfort. "I am planning to get out of Gaza," he said.

In spite of all of this, today is a fantastic day. My children have received their exam results - they did it! They passed! I am delighted and proud of their achievements. This has been a difficult year for them. At times they have had to study by candlelight with their feet immersed in warm water in the hope of keeping them warm.

They too are excited, they have spent the whole morning asking me for things to reward them with. I will take them to the shops with me tomorrow although there is little there for me to buy. The beach remains out of bounds in spite of their protests: 70,000 cubic metres of sewage are still being pumped into the sea each day, in fact 7km of beachfront has been announced out of bounds because of this. A little difficult however, when you are in the of the biggest refugee camp in the world, aptly named Beach Camp.

We have to think of ways to occupy our children given that the beach is out of bounds and there is little for them to do. I have bought them a kite. I started up a community organic farm some time ago - this will be the substitute for the beach this summer. They love getting their hands dirty, eating fresh watermelon.

My children have recently taken to watching a Turkish TV series, which has been translated into Arabic. I watch it with them. It has become the subject of so many pertinent questions.

"Daddy, when will the border be open so that we can go to Turkey?"

They see the things that they have in common with the Turkish children on screen but also the many differences. They ask me: "Why are they (the Turkish children) allowed to travel and not us?"

I can tell them that the borders are closed and this is why we cannot travel to Turkey. And then when they ask "Why?" as children do, what can I say?