GAZA/CAIRO: Palestinians began searching on Monday for thousands of Gazans believed still buried under rubble, as residents expressed shock at the devastation wrought by 15 months of war on the enclave on the second day of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The truce in the 15-month-old conflict, which has laid waste to the Gaza Strip and inflamed the Middle East, took effect on Sunday with the release of the first three hostages held by Hamas and 90 Palestinians freed from Israeli jails.
Now attention is starting to shift to the rebuilding of the coastal enclave which the Israeli military has demolished in retaliation for a Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
That assault killed 1,200 people with around 250 hostages taken into Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. In the subsequent conflict, more than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed, Gaza’s health ministry says.
“We are searching for 10,000 martyrs whose bodies remain under the rubble,” said Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson of the Palestinian Civil Emergency Services.
At least 2,840 bodies were melted and there were no traces of them, he said.
Displaced Gazan Mohamed Gomaa lost his brother and nephew in the war.
“It was a big shock, and the amount (of people) feeling shocked is countless because of what happened to their homes — it’s destruction, total destruction. It’s not like an earthquake or a flood, no no, what happened is a war of extermination,” he said.
With a growing flow of aid into the Palestinian enclave, residents flocked into markets, with some expressing happiness at the lower prices and the presence of new food items like imported chocolates.
“The prices have gone down, the war is over and the crossing is open to more goods,” said Aya Mohammad-Zaki, a displaced woman from Gaza City, who has been sheltering in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza Strip.
The deal requires 600 truckloads of aid to be allowed into Gaza every day of the initial six-week ceasefire, including 50 carrying fuel. Half of the aid trucks would be delivered to the north, where experts have warned famine is imminent.
Warning shots
Residents and medics in Gaza said that for the most part the ceasefire appeared to be holding, although there were isolated incidents. Medics said eight people had been hit by Israeli fire since Monday morning in the southern city of Rafah, without giving details of their condition.
The Israeli military said it fired warning shots against suspects who approached troops deployed according to the ceasefire agreement.
One of the Israeli women hostages released on Sunday, Emily Damari, posted a message on Instagram on Monday.
“I have returned to life, my loved ones,” she wrote, “I am the happiest in the world, to just be,” said Damari, a British-Israeli citizen.
In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where most of the freed Palestinian detainees returned, Nidaa Zaghebi was finally able to embrace her three children who she had left behind after her arrest by Israeli forces.
Zaghebi’s daughters Sadan and Cilla were in tears as they hugged their mother when she arrived at their home, wearing a crown of flowers and wrapped in a traditional Palestinian scarf.
“I used to dream of them every night, and imagine what they were doing. I know the family here were very supportive and took good care of them, but motherhood overcomes all other feelings,” she told Reuters.
Billions of dollars will be needed to rebuild Gaza after the war. A UN damage assessment released this month showed that clearing over 50 million tons of rubble left in the aftermath of Israel’s bombardment could take 21 years and cost up to $1.2 billion.
A UN report from last year, said rebuilding Gaza’s shattered homes could take at least until 2040, but could drag on for many decades. The debris is believed to be contaminated with asbestos, with some refugee camps struck during the war known to have been built with the material.
A UN Development Programme official said on Sunday that development in Gaza has been set back by 69 years as a result of the conflict.
Israel said its goal in the war was to eradicate Hamas and destroy the tunnel network it built underground.
Gazans begin searching for people under rubble on day two of ceasefire
https://arab.news/pkst2
Gazans begin searching for people under rubble on day two of ceasefire
- “We are searching for 10,000 martyrs whose bodies remain under the rubble,” said Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson of the Palestinian Civil Emergency Services
Israel attacks southern Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
- Lebanon insists on return of residents to border villages as a prerequisite for discussing any economic zone
BEIRUT: Two people, including a Hezbollah member, were killed, and more than five others injured on Sunday in Israeli airstrikes carried out without warning on towns in southern Lebanon and the northern Bekaa Valley.
The attacks came while the Mechanism Committee, monitoring the implementation of the ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel, is experiencing “temporary paralysis.”
The date of its next meeting has yet to be confirmed, following the postponement of a session scheduled for Jan. 14 without a clear explanation.
Israeli airstrikes targeted the towns of Bir Al-Salasel, Khirbet Selm, Kfar Dunin, Barish, and Bazouriye, as well as the vicinity of the Nabi Sheet and Janta towns in the northern Bekaa.
The Lebanese Ministry of Health confirmed the fatality and injuries, while an Israeli military spokesperson said that the army attacked Hezbollah members working at a site used for producing weapons.
The strikes targeted a building where Hezbollah members were operating in the Bir Al-Salasel area in southern Lebanon. The building was being used to produce weapons, the spokesman said.
The Israeli army claimed that its airstrikes on the northern Bekaa targeted “Hezbollah military infrastructure,” adding that the “Hezbollah members’ activity at the targeted sites constitutes a violation of the agreements between Israel and Lebanon and poses a threat to Israel.”
The Mechanism Committee, headed by US Gen. Joseph Clearfield and tasked with monitoring the implementation of the cessation-of-hostilities agreement between Israel and Lebanon, is expected to resume its meetings on Feb. 25.
The committee leadership has not officially confirmed the date, which remains under discussion among its members.
An official Lebanese source told Arab News: “The failure of the Mechanism Committee to convene on Jan. 14, following two meetings that were held on Dec. 3 and 19 in Ras Al-Naqoura, indicates the existence of a crisis.”
The source said that “during the two previous meetings, Lebanon insisted on its two demands for the return of residents to border villages from which they were displaced and where their homes were destroyed, as well as the reconstruction of these villages. These two clauses constitute the foundation upon which negotiations must be built.”
The same source, who is involved in the Mechanism Committee’s meetings, said that “Lebanon’s only gateway for addressing the Israeli envoy’s proposition regarding the establishment of a border economic zone similar to a buffer zone is that the border villages must be inhabited by their residents from the Lebanese perspective. This condition cannot be overlooked under any circumstances.”
The source said that “this was discussed with the US side, in particular, and the statement issued by the US on Dec. 19 regarding the negotiations and the progress made by the Lebanese army south of the Litani River presented acceptable evidence that Lebanon is now at the heart of the negotiations.”
The source added: “Lebanon called on the Mechanism Committee to issue a statement endorsing the Lebanese army’s success in extending its control south of the Litani River, including acknowledgment from the Israeli side.
“However, through the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel only issued a statement referring to positives and negatives."
Last week, Lebanese Finance Minister Yassine Jaber confirmed to Arab News, in a special interview from Davos on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, that “the proposal to transform the Lebanese border area into an economic zone was immediately rejected.”
The official Lebanese source attributed the reasons for the postponement of the latest Mechanism meeting to “a structural flaw within the committee, and to a crisis affecting the American delegation related to regional and international developments, in addition to an American-Israeli desire to exclude the French representative.”
The official source spoke of two dilemmas: “There is an Israeli enemy persisting in its violations of the agreement and in its attacks on Lebanon.
“On the other hand, the Israeli side submits evidence to the Mechanism Committee, including documents, photos, and videos, regarding Hezbollah’s restoration of its capabilities, at a time when its Secretary-General, Sheikh Naim Qassem, threatens civil war if Hezbollah’s weapons north of the Litani River are touched.”
The source added: “For its part, the Lebanese Army presents evidence and documentation of what it has accomplished south of the Litani. This means that the Lebanese Army is achieving what it is capable of achieving with flesh and blood. It is aware of the existence of remaining Hezbollah weapons depots and is pursuing them.”
The official source fears “a lack of progress in negotiations in light of all these documents, high-pitched statements, and the American complaint about the slow pace of negotiations.”
He added: “The positions of Hezbollah officials do not help Lebanon’s stance within the Mechanism Committee, particularly with regard to capacity building.”
The source said that “the adherence of the Hezbollah–Amal Movement duo to the Mechanism Committee does not mean their approval of any progress in negotiations.
“When Lebanon proposes expanding the Lebanese delegation to include, for example, a former minister, this constitutes horizontal expansion rather than the vertical expansion that would serve the negotiation process, which should involve specialized experts and technicians. Consequently, any collapse of the ‘Mechanism’ meetings would mean that Lebanon would be facing a very difficult moment.
“It appears that the history of Lebanese–Israeli negotiations is passing through its most dangerous phase today. The world is no longer negotiating with Lebanon solely over its rights, but over its ability to prevent war.”
The official source also stressed that the “Mechanism” constituted a fundamental point of intersection among the participating states despite the difficulties affecting its work.
He said: “The suspension of the committee’s work could be reflected in the issue of the exclusivity of weapons north of the Litani, as its absence would mean leaving matters without controls, pushing Lebanon into an even worse phase.”
The official source said that “raising the level of representation of the Lebanese delegation is not currently on the table, but it is an inevitable end that Lebanon may reach according to the logic of events.”
Lebanon is counting on the anticipated visit of Army Commander Gen. Rodolphe Haykal to Washington early next month, and on the Paris conference scheduled for March 5, to secure further support for the plan to confine weapons north of the Litani River.
