The attacks on Gaza halted on Sunday as a long-awaited ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect, allowing displaced Palestinians to begin returning to their cities. But not before Israel delayed proceedings by three hours and continued to attack the occupied territory.
Before Palestinians could breathe a sigh of relief and return to their decimated homes, Israeli jets and artillery pummeled several areas, killing 19 and wounding 36 others during the three-hour delay, according to Gaza’s civil defence agency.
Israel used the delay as an opportunity to attack, claiming Hamas did not provide a list of the hostages to release. Hamas said the delay was due to ‘technical field reasons’ and delivered the list later.
The ceasefire was meant to start from 8:30am but began at 11:15am local time instead (6:30am GMT).
When it eventually came to pass, Palestinians celebrated across Gaza.Hamas’s military wing paraded through the streets — a sight that will infuriate Israel, whose stated goal of the war was to eradicate the group.
The occupation forces began pulling back from Rafah to the Egyptian border area known as the Philadelphi corridor on Sunday morning.
According to the truce document, the six-week first phase includes prisoner exchanges and aims to establish ‘sustainable calm.’ The second phase of the ceasefire will begin on day 16 of the first phase.
Israel has killed over 47,000 Palestinians over the past 15 months.
Learn more about the ceasefire deal in the following episode of IC News.
