Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
Basil Naggar can finally sleep without any jerks Israel air strikes.
For Naggar and his displaced family, and for many Gaza Facing similar challenges, ceasefire in Israel-Hamas The battle has provided a much-needed respite from a two-year war that has left thousands dead Palestinians And left most of the area in ruins.
But many daily struggles, large and small, continue – from how to put a real roof over one’s head and what to wear as winter arrives, to how to secure proper food, to concerns over whether the fragile ceasefire will hold.
The extent of some personal and communal damage has become apparent since the ceasefire took effect on 10 October, leading many to return to their neighborhoods to explore what remains of their homes.
“Life after the Armistice is still worrying. Is the war really over?”. said Naggar, who has been displaced about a dozen times since the war began.
Adding to their fears are memories of deadly Israeli air strikes in March that broke an earlier ceasefire.
In the coastal area of Muwasi, populated by displaced Palestinians, Naggar’s tent is beginning to fade. He said his house in East Khan Yunis had been burnt. He worries about how his family can stay warm in the winter.
They have survived mostly on canned food, such as fava beans and chickpeas. He said he’s starting to see instant noodles and potato chips in the market. Prices have come down somewhat, but are still expensive, he said.
The World Food Program is “moving rapidly to increase food assistance and reach families suffering months of blockade, displacement and hunger,” spokesman Abeer Atefa said in Geneva on Friday.
“We’re still below what we need, but we’re getting there,” Etefa said.
Challenges he cited include damaged infrastructure and the need for more open crossings into Gaza.
Earlier in the week, the entry of much-needed humanitarian aid into Gaza was halted for two days due to a hostage and prisoner exchange and the Jewish holiday. Israel had threatened to reduce the number of trucks to Gaza, saying that Hamas was too slow to return the remaining bodies of hostages.
Hundreds of trucks are to be allowed into Gaza every day under the ceasefire agreement. COGAT, the Israeli military body that oversees humanitarian aid, did not respond to questions about how many trucks carrying aid have arrived in Gaza since the ceasefire.
Naggar said he had not seen any significant change in the amount of aid available since the ceasefire began.
In the attack on October 7, 2023, which sparked the war, Hamas-led militants abducted 251 people and killed about 1,200.
Israel’s ensuing offensive killed about 68,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government. The ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are generally considered reliable by United Nations agencies and independent experts.
On Thursday, the difficulties were visible at a crowded charity kitchen in the central city of Deir al-Balah, where scores of Palestinians waited with bowls and utensils in front of large pots of rice. Fatima Shatt, a woman displaced from Khan Yunis, said she waited for six hours for food.
Basma Abu al-Kheir said that although some goods have arrived, “there is no possibility of buying what we want” because the prices are so high.
In Deir al-Balah, Fida Ziad said tomatoes, cucumbers and eggplants are available in the market, but poultry and meat are in short supply – and all cost more than before the war. Ziad, who lost his home in northern Gaza, said he is cautious about what happens next, as many complex issues regarding Gaza are still unresolved.
For many, normalcy remains elusive.
After the ceasefire, Mohammed Sami went back to check his home in Jabaliya and found it reduced to rubble. Sammy, who lives now gaza citySaid that there has been no significant change in their situation since the ceasefire.
“Even to drink water, I have to walk, sometimes for an hour, to reach a water truck.”
In August, the world’s leading authority on the food crisis said Gaza City was in the grip of famine, which the group then warned was likely to spread without a ceasefire and an end to restrictions on humanitarian aid. At the time, Israel rejected the report, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling it a “sheer lie”.
Earlier, aid groups had warned for months that Israel’s restrictions on food and other aid and its military offensive into Gaza were leading to starvation among Palestinian civilians, especially children.
Since the start of the ceasefire, at least nine humanitarian organizations have gradually resumed services for displaced families and returnees in Gaza City and parts of northern Gaza, according to a UN humanitarian affairs report released on Thursday.
In Deir al-Balah, Ayman Abu Saif still relies on charity kitchens for food.
“It’s either rice or pasta,” said Abu Saif, who once worked in the hospitality and restaurant sectors and has been repeatedly displaced during the war.
“Market prices are more reasonable now,” he said. That led to a small victory: He bought three apples for his children for the first time in more than a year.
He is unsure about returning to where he lived in Gaza City, saying he has seen a picture of his home being destroyed. And it’s not just his house that’s gone.
“There is no water and no infrastructure there. I couldn’t go back even if I wanted to.”
In a glimpse of the challenges ahead, many displaced Palestinians returning to their neighborhoods found themselves walking through collapsed, cratered and hollowed-out buildings and sifting through the debris for traces of their former lives.
Abu Saif is saddened by the impact the war has had on his children – and worried about their future.
“It is good that the bloodshed has stopped, but we have lost everything,” he said.
His six-year-old son has not received proper education and probably will not in the near future, he said.
Abu Saif said, “I don’t want my children to think that this is what life is all about, running past a charity kitchen to get food or walking long distances to get clean water.” “This is not reality and this is not how life is, and I am not sure life in Gaza will change soon.”
,
The family reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Geir Moulson in Berlin, Sam Metz in Jerusalem and Karim Cheheb in Beirut contributed.