A ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza was holding yesterday, as humanitarian aid began to enter the Israeli-blockaded enclave ravaged by 11 days of bloodshed.
As thousands of displaced Palestinians returned to their homes, and Israelis began to resume normal life on Friday, international focus turned to the reconstruction of the bomb-shattered Gaza Strip.
However, in Jerusalem, Israeli police cracked down on stone-throwing protesters at the highly sensitive al-Aqsa mosque compound, in a sign of how volatile the situation remains, two weeks after similar clashes sparked the conflict’s worst escalation in years.
Photo: AFP
Israeli forces beat an Agence France-Presse photographer who was covering the unrest there.
Clashes also broke out in several other parts of Israeli-occupied east Jerusalem, and at the crossing point between Jerusalem and the West Bank, Israeli police said, adding that hundreds of officers and border guards had been mobilized.
US President Joe Biden said he had told the Israelis to stop “intercommunal fighting” in Jerusalem, and pledged to help organize efforts to rebuild Gaza.
He also said “we still need a two-state solution. It is the only answer, the only answer.”
Convoys of trucks carrying aid began passing into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing after it was reopened by Israel, bringing much-needed medicine, food and fuel.
The UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund said it had released US$18.5 million for humanitarian efforts.
Tens of thousands of Gaza residents ventured out on Friday for the first time in days, checking on neighbors, examining devastated buildings, visiting the sea and burying their dead.
Rescuers there said they were working with meager resources to reach any survivors still trapped under the rubble.
Nazmi Dahdouh, 70, said an Israeli strike had destroyed his home in Gaza City.
“We don’t have another home. I’ll live in a tent on top of the rubble of my home until it’s rebuilt,” the father of five said.
In total, Israeli airstrikes have killed 248 people, including 66 children, since Monday last week, and wounded 1,948 others, the Palestinian Ministry of Health has said.
Fighters were also among those killed.
Large areas have been flattened and about 120,000 people have been displaced, Hamas has said.
The Israeli army said Gaza militants fired more than 4,300 rockets toward Israel, of which 90 percent were intercepted by its air defenses.
The rockets claimed 12 lives in Israel, including one child, a teenager and an Israeli soldier, with one Indian and two Thai nationals among those killed, Israeli authorities said.
About 357 people in Israel were wounded.
“Our message to the enemy is clear — if you come back, we’ll come back, too,” a spokesperson for the armed groups in Gaza told a news conference, while Israeli Minister of Defense Benny Gantz said that “the enemy” had no immunity.
Both sides claimed victory after the Egypt-brokered truce, which also included Gaza’s second-most powerful armed group, Islamic Jihad.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s bombing campaign had killed “more than 200 terrorists” in Gaza, including 25 senior commanders — an “exceptional success.”
For its part, Hamas’ political chief Ismail Haniyeh said they had “dealt a painful and severe blow that will leave its deep marks” on Israel.
He also thanked Iran for “providing funds and weapons.”
Iran praised a “historic victory” and reaffirmed Tehran’s support for the Palestinian cause, while there were demonstrations in support of Palestinians in Jordan, Libya and elsewhere.
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