Thousands of displaced Gazans return home

(Keystone-ATS) On the eve of Donald Trump’s return to the White House, the guns fell silent at 09:15 GMT, 11:15 a.m. local time, almost three hours behind schedule, Hamas having delayed providing the list of three women hostages to be released during the day.

The entry into force of the agreement raises hopes for lasting peace in the Palestinian territory, even if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that his army could take up arms again.

Even before the suspension of hostilities, thousands of displaced Palestinians carrying their belongings took the road to return home, through the devastated territory, according to AFP images.

On board vans or on foot, some all smiles make the V for victory, others share sweets or brandish the Palestinian flag.

But in Jabalia in the far north of Gaza, joy mixes with dismay at the apocalyptic landscape of rubble left by an intense Israeli military operation.

“There is nothing left in the north, it has become unlivable,” laments Walid Abou Jiab, who has just returned home.

Deadly raids in Gaza

In the interval between the scheduled start of the truce and its effective entry into force, Israel carried out new strikes in Gaza which killed eight Palestinians according to local Civil Defense.

Hamas justified its delay in handing over the list of hostages by “complications on the ground and the continuation of the bombings”.

Once the list was communicated, Israel announced the entry into force of the ceasefire at 09:15 GMT, subsequently confirmed by Qatar.

According to the Qatari mediator, “three Israeli citizens, one of whom is (also) of Romanian nationality and the other of British nationality” will be released on Sunday, identities confirmed by the Hostage Families Forum.

Netanyahu’s warning

Achieved on Wednesday by the mediators -Qatar, United States, Egypt-, the agreement ultimately aims, according to Doha, to lead to the “definitive end” of the war, triggered by the bloody attack by Hamas against Israel on October 7 2023.

But Benjamin Netanyahu warned that it was “a provisional ceasefire”, and reserved “the right to resume the war if necessary and with the support of the United States”.

His Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gideon Saar, also warned of a persistence of “regional instability” if Hamas, classified as terrorist by Israel, the United States and the European Union, remains in power in Gaza.

Hostile to the truce, the party of Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir (far-right) announced that it was leaving the ruling coalition, which nevertheless remains in the majority in Parliament.

Under the terms of the agreement, hostilities must cease and 33 Israeli hostages be released, in an initial phase of six weeks.

In exchange, Israeli authorities said they would release 1,904 Palestinians within this deadline.

Three reception points for Israeli hostages have been set up on Israel’s border with Gaza, a military official said.

“Joy” and “regret”

Two Franco-Israelis, Ofer Kalderon, 54, and Ohad Yahalomi, 50, are among the 33 hostages who can be released, according to Paris. They were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz along with several of their children, released during an initial one-week truce in November 2023.

In Tel Aviv, Maya Roman, cousin of a hostage already released and of another, Carmel Gat, who died in captivity, feels “incredible joy and at the same time regret” for the captives killed in Gaza during the months taken to conclude an agreement.

Israel designated 95 Palestinian detainees for release on Sunday, the majority women and minors, most of them arrested after October 7.

Among the prisoners expected to be released is Zakaria al-Zoubeidi, responsible for anti-Israeli attacks and former local leader of the armed wing of Fatah, arrested and imprisoned in 2019.

Nearly 600 aid trucks

According to US President Joe Biden, the first phase of the agreement also includes an Israeli withdrawal from densely populated areas in Gaza and an increase in humanitarian aid in the territory threatened by famine according to the UN.

Egyptian authorities specified that the agreement provided for “the entry of 600 aid trucks per day”.

During the first phase, the modalities of the second will be negotiated, which should allow the release of the last hostages, before the third and final stage devoted to the reconstruction of Gaza and the restitution of the bodies of hostages who died in captivity.

The Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people on the Israeli side, the majority civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data. Of the 251 people kidnapped that day, 94 are still hostages in Gaza, 34 of whom are dead according to the Israeli army.

At least 46,899 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the Israeli retaliatory offensive in Gaza, according to data from the Hamas Ministry of Health deemed reliable by the UN.

Considerably weakened, Hamas, which took power in Gaza in 2007, is however still far from being wiped out, contrary to the objective set by Benjamin Netanyahu, according to experts.