‘We’re finally home’

AFP | Palestinian Territories

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Thousands of displaced Gazans carrying tents, clothes and personal belongings began heading to their homes yesterday after a long-awaited ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect after more than 15 months of war.

Palestinians travelled by truck, donkey cart and on foot back to their homes through devastated swathes of Gaza, particularly in the northern parts of the Palestinian territory.

The first three Israeli hostages were released yesterday.

In the northern area of Jabalia, hundreds of war-weary Palestinians streamed down a sandy path, heading back to an apocalyptic landscape piled with rubble and destroyed buildings.

Rubble

“We are finally in our home. There is no home left, just rubble, but it’s our home,” said Rana Mohsen, 43, back in Jabalia.

An initial 42-day truce brokered by Qatari, US and Egyptian mediators is meant to enable a surge of sorely needed humanitarian aid into Gaza, as Israeli hostages are to be released in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli custody.

The first three hostages, all women, were reunited with their mothers shortly after being taken back to Israel by security forces.

Hamas fighters had handed over the trio - Emily Damari, Romi Gonen, and Doron Steinbrecher - to Red Cross officials in a bustling square in Gaza City surrounded by a sea of people including gunmen.

“After 471 days Emily is finally home,” said her mother Mandy Damari, but “for too many other families the impossible wait continues”.

In central Tel Aviv, there was elation among the crowd who had waited for hours in a plaza dubbed “Hostage Square”.

The Hostage and Missing Families Forum campaign group hailed their return as “a beacon of light”, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said they had emerged “from darkness”.

Exchange

Dozens of Palestinian prisoners are due to be released by Israel in exchange later on yesterday.

A total of 33 Israeli hostages, 31 of whom were taken by the Hamas fighters during their October 7, 2023 attack, are due be returned from Gaza during the initial truce in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinians.

The next hostage-prisoner swap would take place on Saturday, a senior Hamas official told AFP.

Humanitarian aid

Minutes after the truce began, the United Nations said the first trucks carrying desperately needed humanitarian aid had entered the Palestinian territory.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the truce, saying “it is imperative that this ceasefire removes the significant security and political obstacles to delivering aid”.

The truce is intended to pave the way for a permanent end to the war, but a second phase has yet to be finalised.

Schedule

It came into effect nearly three hours later than scheduled. During the delay, Israel’s military said it was continuing operations, with the territory’s civil defence agency reporting 19 people killed and 25 wounded in bombardments.

Thousands of Palestinians carrying tents, clothes and their personal belongings were seen going home yesterday, after the war that displaced the vast majority of Gazans, in many cases more than once.