Palestinians took to the streets across Gaza to celebrate the long-awaited ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel, which came into effect at 11:15 a.m. local time on Sunday after a three-hour delay. Thousands of people who were forced to go into hiding during the 15-month catastrophe returned to see what was left of their homes, while others visited the graves of relatives.
In the southern city of Khan Yunis, armed Hamas fighters were marching through the streets as crowds cheered for them and chanted “Greetings to the al-Qassam Brigades”, the armed wing of Hamas. Several blue-uniformed Hamas policemen were also seen deployed in some areas after months of trying to remain out of sight to avoid Israeli air strikes.
The Palestinians wandered into the streets of Gaza and shared the joy of victory and the end of the war. pic.twitter.com/v2XRe511rN
– Quds News Network (@qdsn) 19 January 2025
“All resistance groups remain in spite of (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu,” one fighter told Reuters news agency, referring to the armed wing.
“This is a ceasefire, God willing, complete and comprehensive, and yet there will be no return to war,” he said.
And much more…and much more, see another post and much more. pic.twitter.com/YYut5OpnaC
– Quds News Network (@qdsn) 19 January 2025
Palestinians return home
In Gaza City, where the most intense Israeli airstrikes and fighting with militants occurred, hundreds of people picked their way through a devastated landscape of debris and twisted metal. People waved the Palestinian flag and filmed the scenes on their mobile phones as several carts loaded with household goods drove through a road strewn with debris and debris.
More information to northern Gaza pic.twitter.com/6Z0VbCEH64
– Quds News Network (@qdsn) 19 January 2025
Those who had to leave their homes to save their lives welcomed the ceasefire as another blow to life.
“We are in pain, in deep pain and now it is time for us to hug each other and cry,” Gaza City resident Ahmed Abu Eham, 40, told Reuters via a chat app.
Aham had been taking refuge in Khan Yunis with his family for months. He said the scene of destruction in his home town was “horrible”, adding that the ceasefire may have saved lives, but this was not the time to celebrate.
According to Aya, a displaced woman from Gaza City who has been taking refuge in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip for more than a year, the ceasefire has come as another blow to life.
“I feel like after wandering in the desert for 15 months, I finally found some water to drink. I feel alive again,” Aya said.
He further said, “The war is over, but the destruction and the losses we suffered will not make life any better. But I hope at least there will be no bloodshed of women and children.”
Ally entered Gaza after months
Long lines of trucks carrying fuel and aid entered Gaza on Sunday after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect, the United Nations said.
The agreement calls for 600 trucks of aid to be allowed into Gaza every day during the initial six-week ceasefire, including 50 trucks carrying fuel. Half of the 600 aid trucks will be delivered to the north of Gaza, where experts have warned famine is imminent.
“The first trucks of supplies began arriving” just minutes after the ceasefire came into effect on Sunday morning, said UN aid official Jonathan Whittall, the interim head of the UN’s OCHA aid agency for the Palestinian territories.
“A large-scale effort by humanitarian partners has been underway over the past few days to prepare to transport and distribute large quantities of aid across Gaza.”
The UN did not provide details of where the shipment entered Gaza, but Egyptian news agency AFP said “197 trucks of aid and five trucks of fuel were delivered to Kerem Shalom and al-Ogha and Nitzana between Israel and Gaza. “Entered through the crossing between.” Between Egypt and Israel.
Israel-Hamas ceasefire
The ceasefire agreement took effect after a nearly three-hour delay, halting a war that has brought seismic political change to the Middle East and giving hope to Gaza’s 2.3 million people, many of whom have been displaced multiple times.
According to Israeli officials, the long-awaited ceasefire agreement could help end the Gaza war, which began after Hamas, which controls the small coastal territory, attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people. They went. The Israeli response has reduced much of Gaza to rubble and killed about 47,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza-based health officials.
