The sounds of celebration replaced the explosions in the Gaza Strip on Sunday as the cease-fire began to take effect after 470 days of war, allowing some Murderers returned home to Israel, Palestinians imprisoned in Israel were released, and Gazans were expelled. search for what is left of their home.
According to the terms of the operation, the fighting between the Israeli army and the Hamas army stopped at 11:15 am, giving hope to the end of the war that has made the Middle East fearful and uncertain.
The first hostages – three women captured when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023 – were released soon after. On Monday morning, the Israeli prison said it had released 90 Palestinian prisoners from prison in Israel, where they were met by happy family members.
At the same time, the delivery service is increasing – more than 630 trucks a day – making their way to Gaza.
Excited Palestinians call out to cars and play music in the central Gaza city of Deir al Balah, where children run around in the streets. Israel celebrated, too, as the terrorists began to return, with distraught families expected to release more.
But the main relief is the knowledge that this phase of the conflict will last for 42 days and will only free some workers, and the great impact of politics will be next if it will continue. Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement in part by removing their thorny differences until the controversial “phase two” that neither side is sure it will be. until.
Almost as soon as the bomb did not fall, masked gunmen and Hamas police officers came out of hiding and found themselves on the streets of Gaza. The show of force is unmistakable, proving that even after many Israeli military campaigns to destroy Hamas, the armed group is still the main Palestinian force in Gaza.
On Saturday night, as the conflict neared, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, warned enemies and friends alike that the first phase of the agreement was temporary and the people Israel can still go back to fighting if the negotiations are in the next phase of the negotiations. the battle broke out.
“We reserve the right to return to war, if necessary, with the support of the United States,” Mr. Netanyahu, whose coalition has been divided over the decision, said on radio.
However, despite the stress of the coming weeks and months, Sunday offers a happy time.
One of the freed people, Emily Damari, can be seen smiling and looking out the open window of an ambulance as she is being transported to Sheba Hospital in Tel Aviv. Mother Damari was last seen free 15 months ago, when she was kidnapped from her home on a kibbutz in southern Israel. He was shot in the hand, and was driven into his own car, a soldier at the wheel.
A photo of Ms. Damari released by the Israeli army on Sunday showed he was still smiling, despite missing two middle fingers on his left hand. All three victims were later reunited with their relatives, who cried and held them tightly after a year apart, according to photos released by the Israeli government. Their parents, siblings and friends fought an international campaign for their freedom.
Under the terms of the agreement, Hamas must release 33 bandits, and in exchange Israel is releasing more than 1,000 Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli prisons, including some serving life sentences for violence against Israelis. Ninety of them – all women and children – were to be released on Sunday.
Friends of the three prisoners released on Sunday danced, sang, and waved the Israeli flag in the air as they gathered at the hospital’s helipad. Gal Kubani, 28, a friend of Ms. Damari’s, said she was “overjoyed” by the news of her release and “congratulations to Emily for surviving this madness.”
In Gaza, the celebrations were tempered by grief. More than 46,000 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli military campaign, according to Gazan health officials, who did not distinguish between civilians and soldiers. Many parts of the area are in ruins, and many homeless migrants will return.
Shortly after the fighting stopped, waves of displaced Palestinians began heading north, anxious to see if any of their homes remained.
Many people have said that they are determined to start getting back the life they once knew, despite the devastating damage across the region. “The joy of returning home is difficult, but it is mixed with sadness,” said Ahed al-Okka, 52, a construction worker from Gaza City.
For others like Suhaila Dawaas, a Gazan immigrant who said she lost eight relatives in the war, the grief gave way to hope for the future. His house is mostly destroyed, although he hopes to find a few elements of the life that his family once had in the rubble.
“I can’t say I’m happy about this attack,” Ms. Dawaas, 55 years old mother of eight. “What is left for us after everything? After endless loss, destruction, pain?
Drone footage taken over Gaza shows fans out across the wasteland. Gaza’s densely populated communities have been reduced to pancake slabs of stone, the streets turning to dust. With unidentified bodies still under the rubble, members of the Gaza Civil Emergency Service set to work.
The war began after Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, Israel said, and arresting 250 terrorists. Some 100 workers remain in Gaza, although a third are believed to have died.
Israel and Hamas have both preserved some of their material. At the end of the first phase of the campaign, Hamas will still have around two-thirds of the terrorists. And Israel will continue to occupy the territory of Gaza, and hold a large number of prisoners, including Marwan Bargouti, the army chief and the leader of the Palestinian political party.
On Sunday, United Nations humanitarian aid trucks began entering Gaza just 15 minutes after the fighting began, according to Jonathan Whittall, head of the UN humanitarian office for the region. Palestine. Months of illegality and restrictions on the deportation of people have existed reduce the contribution to a trickle.
Two trucks carrying ready meals and flour arrived in the neighborhood on Sunday, one over the other Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Gaza, and another part of the crossing to the north, according to Martin Penner, an expert at the United Nations’ World Food Program. The controversial agreement calls for 600 trucks to be allowed to bring aid to Gazans daily, although it is unclear how the supplies will be distributed.
The conflict has already opened a deep rift in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s ruling party.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, the left-wing national security minister, resigned in protest from the parliament and removed his Jewish power group from participation on Sunday. The Zionist Church, led by Bezalel Smotrich, said it could be the same unless Mr. Netanyahu is still at war after the start of the campaign. If he does that, Mr. Netanyahu’s government will hold less than half of the seats in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, which could force the government to fall and force new elections.
The congressional team representing President Biden and President Donald J. Trump has played an important role in fighting the conflict, and both men have been credited for it to Mr. . Biden’s last day in office.
In a speech in South Carolina, Mr. “Abandoning the education that I am learning would not have led us to the conflict that we are seeing today,” he said.
Advertisements are provided by Adam Rasgon, Nathan Odenheimer, Ephrat Livni, Jonathan Rau, Gabby Sobelman, Myra Noveck, Vivian Yee, Fatima Abdul Karim and Yan Zhuang.