DEIR EL-BALAH, GAZA:
Thousands of displaced and war-weary Gazans crossed the devastated Palestinian territory to return to their home areas on Sunday, after a long-awaited truce between Israel and Hamas came into effect after an initial delay.
As part of the ceasefire agreement, Hamas released three Israeli female hostages, Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher, from captivity in order to reunite with their families. A senior Hamas official later said the next group of hostages would be released on Saturday.
The ceasefire began almost three hours later than planned, during which Israeli bombardments killed 19 people and injured 25 others. But minutes after the start of the truce, the UN said, the first trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered Gaza, where many residents were returning to nothingness.
Thousands of Gazans carrying tents, clothes and their belongings were seen returning home, after more than 15 months of war that displaced the vast majority of the population, in many cases repeatedly.
In the northern area of Jabalia, hundreds of people walked a sandy path, returning to an apocalyptic landscape filled with rubble and destroyed buildings. “Unprecedented destruction,” said Walid Abu Jiab, back in Jabalia. “There’s nothing left in the North worth living for.”
Aid workers say northern Gaza is particularly hard hit, lacking all essentials including food, shelter and water. In the southern city of Khan Yunis, people who had not yet returned celebrated their upcoming return. “I long for Gaza (city) and our loved ones,” Wafa al-Habeel said.
As hundreds of trucks waited at the Gaza border, Jonathan Whittall, acting head of the UN humanitarian agency for the Palestinian territories, told X that the first trucks had started entering after the truce, after “a massive effort” to prepare for an increase in aid throughout the country.
The truce was supposed to begin at 8:30 a.m., but a last-minute dispute over the list of hostages to be released on the first day led to the heist. Qatar, the truce mediator, later confirmed that the ceasefire agreement had come into force.
An initial 42-day truce negotiated by Qatari, American and Egyptian mediators should allow an influx of badly needed humanitarian aid into Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinians held by Israel.
The Israeli military said the first three hostages, all women, “crossed the border into Israeli territory” in the afternoon and were “on their way back.” On the other hand, dozens of Palestinian prisoners were to be released by Israel in exchange later on Sunday.
A total of 33 Israeli hostages, including 31 taken by Hamas fighters during the October 7, 2023 attack, are expected to return from Gaza during the initial truce. The Israeli military said that of the 251 people taken hostage, 91 were still in Gaza, while 34 were dead.
An Egyptian source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that “260 trucks of aid and 16 of fuel” entered Gaza on Sunday. Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said earlier that 600 trucks a day would pass through the war-ravaged enclave.
World leaders welcomed the start of the truce and stressed the need for both sides to respect the terms of the ceasefire. “It is imperative that this ceasefire removes significant security and political obstacles to the delivery of aid,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on X.
On the eve of the ceasefire, Netanyahu called the first phase a “temporary ceasefire” and said Israel had the support of the United States to return to war if necessary. Hamas’ military wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said its compliance with the truce would be “contingent on the enemy’s engagement.”
US President Joe Biden, whose administration has participated in months of mediation efforts, welcomed the ceasefire’s entry into force on Sunday, saying that “after so much pain, so many deaths and loss of life, today the guns in Gaza have fallen silent.”
The truce came into effect on the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration for a second term as president of the United States. Trump, who claimed credit for the ceasefire agreement, told US broadcaster NBC on Saturday that he had told Netanyahu that the war “must end”.
The Hamas attack on October 7, the deadliest in Israeli history, left 1,210 people dead. Israel’s campaign of retaliation has destroyed much of Gaza, killing at least 46,913 people, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-controlled territory’s health ministry.
