Cafes have reopened, traders are wiping the dust and fishermen preparing to take to the sea: as the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began at 2 a.m. on Friday, Gaza seemed to be returning to a semblance of normalcy, Saturday 22 May. Now is the time to organize emergency aid and discuss the reconstruction of the Palestinian enclave.
Rescuers are still looking for survivors in the rubble of Gaza, ravaged by eleven days of conflict. On Friday, they removed five remains as well as a dozen survivors from the underground tunnels bombarded by the Israeli army.
The ceasefire announced Thursday evening by the two parties has set no end to the end of the fighting and remains, as such, still fragile. “Our enemies have no certificate of immunity”Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said, while a spokesman for Palestinian armed factions in Gaza said: “Our message to the enemy is clear: if you come back, we will come back too. ” Two Egyptian delegations have also arrived in Israel and the Palestinian territories, ” to keep an eye on “ respect for the ceasefire, according to Egyptian state media.
Emergency humanitarian aid convoys
Several convoys of emergency humanitarian aid entered Gaza on Friday. The Egyptian foreign minister said he had received a call from his Israeli counterpart to discuss the necessary measures to facilitate the reconstruction operations in Gaza. For Washington too, the subject of reconstruction in the enclave is a diplomatic lever.
The President of the United States, Joe Biden, for his part said on Friday his intention to set up financial aid “Major”, with the help of the international community to “Rebuild Gaza”. Without giving Hamas – considered a terrorist organization by the United States – “The opportunity to rebuild your weapon system”.
The US president also revived the two-state solution: an independent Palestine alongside Israel, calling it “Only answer possible”. “In the coming days”, the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, will visit the Middle East.
Victory claimed on both sides
Escalating violence between the IDF and Hamas has left 248 Palestinians dead, including 66 children and fighters, according to authorities in Gaza. In Israel, bursts of rockets fired from Gaza killed twelve people, including a child, a teenage girl and a soldier, according to police. Just after a truce came into effect on Friday, both sides claimed victory.
The head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, hailed a “Strategic victory” against Israel and said to have “Dealt a severe and painful blow which will leave deep marks on the entity” to his opponent. For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented on the Israeli offensive against Palestinian territory, where some two million people live, saying: “We have achieved the objectives, it is an exceptional success. “ And to add: “More than 200 terrorists, including 25 officers”, were killed.
The Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, suspended since 2014, collide on many points, including the status of East Jerusalem and the Israeli colonization of Palestinian territories. Proof that the situation remains volatile, almost daily clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces take place in the West Bank and sometimes in East Jerusalem, a Palestinian sector occupied by Israel.
