Thousands of people, carrying tents, clothes, and all their personal belongings, could be seen going back to their homes with the war leaving the vast majority of the Gazans in one or more than one displacement situation,
New Delhi The first three Israeli hostages taken back to their homeland under the expected Gaza truce arrived at the Red Cross on Sunday, according to reports published by both a Hamas official and the Israeli Military.
The female hostages “were officially handed over to the Red Cross” in Gaza City ahead of their return to Israel, a senior Hamas official said in an AFP interview.
This occurred hours after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began in the morning, almost three hours late after over 15 months of war.
In the meantime, Israel’s military continued to operate, reporting that 19 people were killed and 25 others were wounded in bombardments by the civil defense agency of the territory.
Minutes into the truce, the United Nations said the first trucks carrying sorely needed humanitarian aid had entered the Palestinian territory as displaced, war-weary Palestinians set off across the devastated Gaza Strip to return to their home areas.
Thousands of people carrying tents, clothes, and their personal belongings were seen returning home following the war that displaced the majority of Gaza’s population, often for the second time.
Hundreds streamed down a sandy path into the northern area of Jabalia, returning to an apocalyptic landscape piled with rubble and destroyed buildings.
“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.
Another returning resident, Walid Abu Jiab, said he had found “massive, unprecedented destruction,” with “nothing left” in Gaza’s war-battered north, which has seen intense violence over the past months.
In the southern city of Rafah, Ahmad al-Balawi said, “As soon as I returned. I felt a shock.”
