BLOG Hamas: The people of Gaza will rise again and rebuild what the occupier destroyed

The ceasefire came into effect on Sunday.

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Some of the Palestinian prisoners after their release, Photo: Reuters
Some of the Palestinian prisoners after their release, Photo: Reuters
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.
Finished
16: 50h

Hours after a ceasefire was declared on Sunday, Hamas fighters were back on the streets of Gaza. Not in large numbers, armed only with Kalashnikovs and basic protection, but they appeared in pickup trucks, in uniforms and with distinctive headscarves, as they passed through cheering crowds as Israeli hostages were handed over in Gaza City, the Guardian reports.

Elsewhere, Hamas policemen could be seen in blue uniforms on the streets, after months of hiding from Israeli strikes.

These images are what Hamas wants, and Benjamin Netanyahu doesn't, for the whole world to see: that this Islamist movement has survived the Israeli attacks. For Hamas leaders, it is a victory, because it shows that Israel has not achieved its war goal - the destruction of the group.

Hamas
photo: REUTERS
Hamas
photo: REUTERS
16: 42h

Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that has controlled Gaza since 2007, has vowed that Gaza and its people will "rise again" and rebuild the territory that has been largely destroyed by Israeli attacks.

"Gaza, with its great people and resilience, will rise again to rebuild what the occupation destroyed and continue on the path of perseverance until the occupation is defeated. For 471 days, the systematic crimes of the occupation have failed to deter our people and their courageous resilience from their attachment to their country and confronting aggression," said a Hamas statement issued on the second day of the ceasefire with Israel.

According to health officials in Gaza, more than 46.000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks, while schools, hospitals and other infrastructure, including roads, have been destroyed in the incessant bombardment.

Donald Trump's newly appointed national security adviser, Mike Walz, warned yesterday that the US would support Israel if Hamas violated the ceasefire agreement in exchange for hostages.

He said in an interview with CBS's "Face the Nation" program: "Hamas will never rule Gaza again. This is completely unacceptable."

16: 41h

The Israeli military announced that one soldier was killed and another was seriously wounded in the occupied West Bank.

The military declined to provide further details, according to a report by the Associated Press.

Israeli media reported that a vehicle carrying soldiers was hit by an improvised explosive device on a road in the northern West Bank overnight.

The Israeli military said that more than 400 of its soldiers have been killed in fighting since the start of the Gaza war, which was launched in late October 2023.

16: 23h

Many Israeli soldiers have themselves released images and videos showing them committing crimes in Gaza. A Palestinian foundation wants them to be prosecuted for this – when they set foot outside Israel.

14: 44h

Palestinian emergency services reported today that a search is underway for thousands of Palestinians believed to be under the rubble.

Radio Free Europe reports that residents of the Gaza Strip are shocked by the extent of the destruction on the second day of the ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement.

A ceasefire after a 90-month war that devastated the Gaza Strip and sparked unrest in the Middle East came into effect yesterday, with the release of the first three hostages held by Hamas and XNUMX Palestinians from Israeli prisons.

Attention is now shifting to rebuilding Palestinian territory that the Israeli military destroyed in retaliation for Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The attack killed 1.200 people and took about 250 hostages to Gaza, according to Israeli figures. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than 15 Palestinians have been killed in the 47.000 months of war.

"We are searching for 10.000 martyrs whose bodies are still under the rubble," said Palestinian Civil Emergency Services spokesman Mahmoud Basal.

He added that at least 2.840 bodies have been destroyed and that all trace of them is being lost.

Displaced Mohamed Goma from Gaza City says he lost his brother and nephew in the war.

"It's a huge shock, and the number of people who feel shocked is huge because of what happened to their homes – it's destruction. It's not like an earthquake or a flood, no, what happened is a war of extermination," he said.

Residents and medical personnel in the Gaza Strip say both sides are largely adhering to the ceasefire, although there have been a few sporadic cases of ceasefire violations.

Medical personnel reported that eight people were targeted by Israeli fire in the southern town of Rafah this morning, without providing details about their conditions.

The Israeli military said it was investigating the reports. Rebuilding the Gaza Strip will cost billions of dollars. According to a United Nations damage assessment released this month, removing the more than 50 million tons of rubble left after the Israeli bombardment could take 21 years and cost up to $1,2 billion.

In its previous report, last year, the UN estimated that rebuilding destroyed homes in the Gaza Strip could take at least until 2040, and certainly a decade or so after that.

The ruins are believed to be contaminated with asbestos, and some refugee camps that were targeted during the war are known to have been built with this very material.

Israel reported that its goal in the war was to eradicate Hamas and destroy the network of tunnels that Hamas had built underground.

Change: 16:23 p.m
08: 36h

Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners last night, hours after Hamas released three Israeli hostages, as part of a ceasefire between the Israeli army and the Palestinian Islamist movement in the Gaza Strip after more than 15 months of war.

The ceasefire came into effect yesterday, but with a delay of almost three hours.

Hamas did not deliver the list of hostages on time, as planned, and they were then released during the day.

The Palestinian movement said this was not done due to "complications on the ground" and "continued bombing".

Three young Israeli women released yesterday "went through hell" after 471 days of captivity, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

They were admitted to Sheba Hospital, near Tel Aviv, where they were said to be "in stable condition."

An unnamed senior Hamas official told Agence France-Presse that the next hostage release would be "next Saturday."

Hamas announced that for every Israeli hostage, 30 Palestinian prisoners would be released from Israeli prisons.

(Beta)

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