People who fled to the southern parts of Gaza left for their home villages, even though the Israeli army warned that the war is not over and it is not safe to return to the northern parts of the area.
A truce between the Israeli army and the extremist organization Hamas has begun in the Gaza Strip. A broadcasting company monitoring the situation in southern Israel near the Gaza border the BBC according to the journalist, the firing and airstrikes have stopped for the time being. The truce is scheduled to last for four days.
The ceasefire agreement also includes the release of 50 hostages taken by Hamas and 150 Palestinian prisoners captured by Israel.
The hostages are scheduled to be released in the afternoon around 4 p.m. In the first batch, the plan is to release a total of 13 hostages taken by Hamas, who are all from the same families.
If the truce holds, a total of 50 hostages held by Hamas and 150 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons are to be released within four days.
According to Israel, Hamas took more than 240 hostages after attacking Israel on October 7. The news agency AFP has confirmed the identity of at least 210 hostages. At least 35 of the hostages are children.
Hamas has said that it will release women and underage boys during the ceasefire.
During the ceasefire, humanitarian aid is to be brought to Gaza. According to the BBC, the first aid trucks have already crossed the border into Gaza. It is planned to take 200 truckloads of aid to the area every day during the ceasefire.
Aid trucks deliver food, medicine, water and fuel to Gaza.
“Those who still live here are dead”
At dawn, thousands of people who fled to the southern parts of Gaza prepared to return to their home villages. Omar Jibrin, 16, was leaving a hospital in southern Gaza, where he had fled with eight other members of his family.
– I’m going home, Jibrin summarized.
However, Israeli army planes dropped leaflets in the southern parts of the Gaza Strip, prohibiting them from returning to the northern part of the area.
– The war is not over yet. Returning to the north is forbidden and very dangerous, the flyers warned.
However, for some of the residents of Gaza, the ceasefire came too late.
– The last thing he told me was that he expects a ceasefire on Friday, said Fida Zayed, whose 20-year-old son Udai was killed in an airstrike before the ceasefire began.
– Those who still live here are dead. Zayed crystallized.
Source: AFP