A four-day truce between Israel and Hamas has brought a brief respite from the fighting that has ravaged Gaza for seven weeks, allowing for the release of 50 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in exchange for 150 Palestinian women and teenagers held in Israeli jails. The first batch of 13 hostages and 39 Palestinians is expected to be freed later in the day. As the truce took effect, streets in Khan Younis town in southern Gaza were filled with people venturing out of homes and shelters into a terrain of rubble-strewn buildings. Displaced families with small children carried belongings in plastic bags, hoping to return to their homes temporarily.
Despite the truce, both sides accused each other of sporadic shooting and other violations, with warnings that the war would resume at full throttle as soon as it ended. Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant vowed that the war would continue with great might after the truce. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which has been gripped by weeks of Israeli bombardment that has killed thousands of Palestinians, is expected to receive additional aid. Egypt has pledged to deliver 200 trucks of aid daily to the besieged territory, and aid trucks have already begun entering Gaza from Egypt, carrying supplies and supplies.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant (Via Yoav Gallant/Twitter)
The Indonesian Hospital in Gaza City was among the targets bombed in the hours leading up to the truce, with Gaza health officials reporting that a patient, a wounded woman, was killed and three others injured. Israeli officials have declined to comment on the incident. The temporary truce has also led to the entry of aid trucks into Gaza from Egypt, with 60 trucks carrying aid having crossed the border by mid-morning. Despite the efforts to bring aid to Gaza, a Palestinian official familiar with the truce talks expressed frustration over the slow pace of aid delivery, saying that only three trucks of aid out of 100 trucks had reached the northern Gaza Strip so far.
The truce has brought a sense of relief to the people of Gaza, who have endured weeks of violence and destruction. The release of hostages has brought some families a glimmer of hope, and the flow of aid into the territory is much-needed. However, the war is far from over, and both sides have made it clear that the fighting will resume when the truce ends. The world watches with caution, hoping for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
