Residents in Gaza have described the “unlivable” conditions they returned to after Israel’s two-year war against Hamas, which the UN says destroyed more than 90 per cent of residential buildings in the territory.
The Israeli military said a ceasefire in Gaza came into force at 12pm local time (10am BST) on Friday, after Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of a peace deal unveiled by Donald Trump.
Under the first phase of the deal, all 20 living Israeli hostages held in Gaza will be freed in exchange for around 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,700 detainees from Gaza. Widespread aid distribution is also expected to resume across the Strip.
Two hundred US troops will arrive over the weekend to set up the base that will oversee implementation of the truce deal, two sources told ABC News.
A multinational taskforce is to include troops from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and the UAE.
Thousands of Palestinians began travelling from the south of the territory to the north, including Gaza City, after the ceasefire was agreed.
Footage shared with The i Paper showed crowds of Palestinians making their way back to the war-torn city.
Among them was Ola Amira, a 20-year-old medical student and volunteer at mutual aid initiative Reviving Gaza.
Throughout the war, Amira said she and her family had been displaced to Rafah in the south of the Strip, and the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
Speaking to The i Paper as she returned to Gaza City, she said: “My heart is literally squeezing from pain.”
The north of Gaza after the ceasefire on 10 October (Photo: Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images)“All Gaza has become like this – unlivable,” she said referring to footage of her destroyed home.
This marked the second time Amira and her family returned to Gaza City during a ceasefire, with the first being during Israel and Hamas’s truce earlier this year.
“Once we returned to Gaza City [the first time], we bought furniture, [a] new kitchen. We wanted to finally feel stable.
Amira said her family’s immediate reaction “after praising god was that we all wanted to immigrate” out of Gaza once the borders open.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in August the offensive in Gaza City sought to destroy Hamas’s “last stronghold”.
Around 700,000 people from the city and the north of Gaza were displaced by the offensive, which involved widespread aerial bombardment and the entry of ground troops into residential neighbourhoods.
At least 67,194 people in Gaza have been killed since Hamas’s attack against southern Israel on 7 October, 2023, according to the local health ministry.
The majority of them (53 per cent) were women, children and elderly people.
More than 90 per cent of Palestinians – or 1.9 million people – have been displaced at least once since Hamas’s cross-border attack against Israel in October 2023, according to the UN.
The militant group’s attack killed 1,195 people, including 725 civilians, according to Israeli officials. The Israel Defence Forces has said a further 466 Israeli soldiers have been killed during the subsequent conflict in Gaza.
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