TIME asked residents of Gaza and Israel to chronicle their lives on the day Israel's forces started a ground offensive in the Palestinian territory.
+ READ ARTICLEIn the city of Herzliya, Israel, Guy Gutterman woke up to the sounds of sirens, ate a bowl of cereal and rode on an empty bus to the university where he teaches.
Meanwhile in Gaza, some residents felt safe enough to venture out into the streets for the first time in days, thanks to a 5-hour ceasefire brokered between Israel and Hamas.
On Thursday, four young residents of Gaza and Israel documented their daily lives from different sides of the border with videos and photos: from waking up with the news of a ceasefire, and going to sleep with the rumbling sounds of an Israeli offensive of the Palestinian territory.
Their first person narrative of the unfolding crisis reveals a rarely seen perspective from the ground.