New Delhi, Nov. 4 -- A fragile prisoner exchange sparks fleeting hope in Gaza as bombardment, shortages, and grief continue to define life under siege.

In a quiet noon exchange on Nov. 3, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) transferred five Palestinian prisoners released by Israel, a gesture that briefly softened the edges of a brutal war. For hours in Gaza there was relief: children embraced fathers they barely knew; older relatives wept; and the deliberate smallness of ordinary life, a cup of tea, a cigarette, a whispered prayer, re-emerged on a strip of land long deprived of it. The release, part of a fragile, mediated truce, came amid continuing shelling, overcrowded shelters, and grim reports about conditions in Isra...