Palestinians took to the streets this Sunday (19) to celebrate and returned to the rubble of their bombed homes, while the Red Cross went to rescue the first hostages released under a ceasefire agreement that halted fighting in the Gaza Strip.
The three hostages held by Hamas were handed over to the Red Cross, according to an Israeli official. They are: Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher. Now Israel must release 90 Palestinian hostages held by the Israelis.
The truce finally came into force after a three-hour delay, during which Israeli forces bombarded Gaza from the air in a final attack, killing 13 people, according to Palestinian health officials.
A team from the International Committee of the Red Cross was on its way to receive the first hostages to be released under the ceasefire agreement from Hamas, an official involved in the operation told Reuters.
“I feel like I finally found water to drink after 15 months lost in the desert. I feel alive again,” Aya, a displaced woman from Gaza City, who is sheltering in place, told Reuters via a chat app. in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, more than a year ago.
In the north of the territory, where some of the most intense Israeli airstrikes and battles with militants took place, hundreds of people fought their way through a devastated landscape of rubble and twisted metal.
Armed Hamas fighters drove through the southern city of Khan Younis, with crowds cheering and chanting, despite a nearly three-hour delay in implementing the ceasefire agreement after 15 months of devastating conflict.
Hamas police officers, dressed in blue police uniforms, have taken up positions in some areas after months of trying to stay out of sight to avoid Israeli airstrikes.
People who gathered to applaud the fighters sang “Greetings to the Al-Qassam Brigades” – the armed wing of Hamas.
The ceasefire agreement took effect after a delay of nearly three hours, halting a war that has brought political change to the Middle East and giving hope to Gaza’s 2.3 million residents, many of whom have been displaced several times.
The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said Israeli military strikes killed at least 13 people across the enclave in the delay. No further attacks were reported after the ceasefire came into force at 11:15 am (6:15 am Brasília time).
“Now we are waiting for the day when we return to our home in Gaza City,” Aya said. “With or without harm, it doesn’t matter, the nightmare of death and hunger is over.”
Aid trucks enter Gaza
The streets of the destroyed Gaza City, in the north of the territory, were already occupied by groups of people waving the Palestinian flag and filming the scenes with their cell phones. Several carts loaded with household belongings rolled down a street littered with rubble and debris.
Ahmed Abu Ayham, 40, a resident of Gaza City sheltering with his family in Khan Younis, said the scene of destruction in his hometown was “terrible”, adding that while the ceasefire may have saved lives, it did not It was time for celebrations. “We are suffering, suffering a lot, and it’s time to hug and cry,” said Abu Ayham via the same app.
The long-awaited ceasefire agreement could help bring an end to the Gaza war, which began after Hamas, which controls the small coastal territory, attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people. , according to Israeli authorities.
Israel’s response reduced much of Gaza to rubble and killed some 47,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.
Trucks carrying fuel and aid supplies lined up at border crossings in the hours before the ceasefire came into effect. The World Food Program said they began crossing on Sunday morning.
The agreement calls for 600 aid trucks to be allowed into Gaza each day of the initial six-week ceasefire, including 50 carrying fuel. Half of the 600 aid trucks would be delivered to northern Gaza, where experts have warned that famine is imminent.
“The war is over, but life will not be better because of the destruction and losses we suffered,” Aya said. “But at least there will be no more bloodshed of women and children, I hope.”
*With information from Reuters and Lusa agencies.
