After the beginning of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the release of three Israeli hostages, thousands of Palestinians return to the Gaza Strip. With tents, on foot, in trucks and even in carts pulled by donkeys, refugees arrive especially in the northern areas of the Palestinian territory, passing through completely devastated areas.
The first trucks with humanitarian aid entered Gaza a few minutes after the start of the ceasefire, said a United Nations (UN) official for the Palestinian Territories on the social network X.
“We didn’t expect so much destruction. We were building our house 20 years ago, and it was destroyed in a moment,” a man told AFP in Rafah. Most civilians in the Gaza Strip were displaced during 15 months of Israeli bombing aimed at eliminating Hamas militants who attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.
The first truce in the conflict between Israel and Hamas began this Sunday (19), three hours later than expected. Benjamin Netanyahu’s government stated that the ceasefire would only begin after the extremist group handed over a list of the names of the hostages that would be released. During this period, Israel carried out another bombardment, which left at least 17 people dead.
Hamas attributed the delay to technical problems and released a list of three civilian women, who were released around 11 am (Brasília time) today. They are: Romi Gonen, 24, Doron Streinbrecher, 31, and Emily Damari, 28, who has dual citizenship, Israeli and British.
Now, under the terms of the agreement, the Israelis must release 90 Palestinian prisoners, some children and women. A senior Hamas official indicated this Sunday that the next release of Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza will take place “next Saturday”, in statements to the French news agency, AFP, requesting anonymity.
Since the start of the conflict, 46,788 people have died in the Gaza Strip in 15 months of war, according to the Palestinian territory’s Ministry of Health. The war began on October 7, 2023, after Hamas launched an attack against Israel that left more than 1,200 dead, in addition to 251 kidnapped as hostages.
Israel
In Israel, hundreds of Israelis gathered in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv. Some applauded and others cried as a giant screen broadcast the first view of the first three hostages to be freed under the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
The Israeli army shared a video showing their families gathered in what appeared to be a military facility, crying with emotion as they watched footage of the hostages being handed over to Israeli forces in Gaza, before being brought back to Israel.
“His return today represents a beacon of light in the darkness, a moment of hope and triumph of the human spirit,” said the Forum for Families of Hostages and Missing Persons, a group that represents some hostage families.
Olaf Scholz and Macron
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron today called for compliance with the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas and for peaceful coexistence between the Palestinian and Israeli states.
Biden
United States President Joe Biden welcomed the ceasefire in Gaza, pointing out that the agreement he proposed in May has materialized and that it leaves a “fundamentally transformed region”.
European Council
The president of the European Council, António Costa, said it was with “relief” that he saw the first Israeli hostages being released and argued that “peace is the only way forward”.
With information from agencies Reuters and Lusa
