Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
thousands of people displaced Palestinians They loaded cars, carts and bicycles with belongings and headed back to their neighborhoods Saturday, walking through dusty streets as bulldozers began cutting through the debris of two years of bombing.
Aid groups were preparing to step up relief work, with the ceasefire just one of many challenges ahead israel And Hamas Entered the second day.
“When people get there, they will find debris. They will find their homes and their neighborhoods turned to dust,” UNICEF spokeswoman Tess Ingram told The Associated Press on Friday.
As the ceasefire appears to be holding, his organization and its allies are urging Israel to reopen more crossings and allow aid to flow more freely into Gaza. Meanwhile, about 200 American troops arrived in Israel to help rescue the hostages and monitor the ceasefire.
“A ceasefire alone is not enough,” Ingram said, speaking from central Gaza. “Yes, this will hopefully put a stop to the killing and wounding of children, but it also needs to ensure an increase in humanitarian assistance that begins to address the tremendous damage suffered over the past two years.”
COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid, said more than 500 trucks entered Gaza on Friday, although many crossings remained closed. Ingram said that with parts of the strip still under declared famine, UNICEF had 1,300 trucks ready for entry, and more on the way.
The aid is among 170,000 metric tons that have been held in neighboring countries awaiting permission from Israel to resume suspended deliveries.
The days of the announcement of the ceasefire have progressed rapidly. The Israeli military confirmed it took effect Friday and said the 48 hostages still in Gaza would be freed on Monday. Israel also approved expanded aid deliveries starting on Sunday, said a UN official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet made public.
These steps are important steps towards ending the war that started with Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. The fighting has left thousands of Palestinians dead, devastated the entire area, and displaced nearly 90% of Gaza’s more than 2 million people at various times.
Israel is ready for the return of hostages
Across the border, Israel is gearing up for the long-awaited return of hostages held for more than two years.
“It’s been some nights that we haven’t been able to sleep. We want them back and we feel like everything is just hanging on a thread,” Tel Aviv resident Maayan Eliassi said at a gathering in the city’s hostage square. “I can’t heal. None of us can.”
The government believes that about 20 of the 48 hostages in Gaza survive.
Questions remain about who will rule Gaza as Israeli troops gradually withdraw and whether Hamas will disarm, as called for in the agreement. Prime Minister benjamin netanyahuIsrael, which unilaterally ended the ceasefire in March, has suggested Israel could resume attacks if Hamas fails to disarm.
“If it can be achieved the easy way – so be it. If not – it will be achieved the hard way,” he said on Friday. He promised that the next phase would bring the disarmament of Hamas.
Relief, accounting and new security arrangements in Gaza
The scale of the destruction will likely become clear as Israel’s forces return to the armistice line, but the United Nations said in September that more than three out of every four buildings had been destroyed, creating the equivalent of 25 Eiffel Towers of debris, much of which is likely toxic.
A February assessment by the European Union and the World Bank estimated damages at $49 billion, including $16 billion in the housing sector and $6.3 billion in the health sector.
The death toll is expected to rise as more bodies are being found that were not recovered during the Israeli attack.
A manager at Shifa hospital in northern Gaza told the AP that 45 bodies had been pulled from debris in Gaza City in the past 24 hours. The manager, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, said the bodies were missing for several days to two weeks.
New security arrangements are taking shape on the ground.
Trump’s initial 20-point plan calls for Israel to maintain an open military presence inside Gaza, along its border with Israel. An international force, largely consisting of troops from Arab and Muslim countries, would be responsible for security inside Gaza, although the timeline is unclear.
The Israeli military has said it will continue to operate defensively in the roughly 50% of Gaza it still controls after returning to agreed lines.
U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff told Israeli officials on Friday that the United States would set up a center in Israel to coordinate Gaza-related issues until a permanent government is formed there, according to a person who attended the meeting and a readout of the meeting obtained by the AP. Another official, who was not authorized to speak to the media, confirmed the contents of the readout.
The readout said there would be no U.S. troops on the ground in Gaza, but there would be people who would report to the U.S. and could man the airstrip for surveillance.
Another official, also speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said a group – including the US, Qatar, Egypt and other countries and organizations – would be part of the mission to locate and identify hostage bodies and avoid past issues with body misidentification. It was unclear whether the 200 US troops coming to Israel would be part of that group or a separate initiative.
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage.
Israel’s ensuing offensive has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded nearly 170,000, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says about half of the dead were women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the United Nations and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimates of wartime casualties.
The war has also sparked other conflicts in the region, sparking protests around the world and allegations of genocide, which Israel denies.
,
Metz reported from Jerusalem, El Diab from Beirut, Lebanon and Mednick reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writer Sally Abu Aljoud in Beirut, Lebanon contributed to this report.
,
Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war