The ceasefire agreement in Gaza between Hamas and Israel went into effect at 11:15 am on Sunday, as residents of the Gaza Strip celebrated the coming of the agreement and return of the displaced.
The military wing of the Hamas movement, Qassam Brigades, then handed over three female prisoners to the Red Cross and 90 Palestinians were released.
The spokesperson for the al-Qassam Brigades, Abu-Obeida, said in a message on his official Telegram channel: “As part of the al-Aqsa Flood prisoner exchange deal, al-Qassam Brigades decided to release the following Israeli prisoners: Romi Gonen, 24, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31.”
The agreement was originally scheduled to start at 8:30 am Jerusalem time, but was delayed for about three hours due to Israel not receiving the list of hostages to be released from Hamas.
Between the original date for implementing the agreement and the actual date, Israel launched several raids on Gaza Strip, resulting in the deaths of 19 Palestinians and the injury of 36 others.
Local Palestinian sources explained that shelling targeted the neighborhoods of Zeitoun, Shuja’iyya and al-Sha’af east of Gaza City and the cities of Rafah and Khan Yunis in the south of the strip, in addition to artillery shelling targeting the north of Nuseirat and al-Bureij in the center of Gaza.
With the implementation of the ceasefire in Gaza Strip, aid trucks began entering the Strip through the Rafah and Karem Abu Salem crossings.
The Al-Qahera News Channel reported that 260 aid trucks and 16 fuel trucks headed to the strip to enter through for al-Auja and Karem Abu Salem crossings on Sunday.
The channel stated that hundreds of trucks are parking in front of Rafah land crossing on the Egyptian side, waiting to enter the Karem Abu Salem crossing in order to reach Gaza Strip.
These trucks are transporting food, clothing, medical supplies, tents, hygiene supplies and other relief materials.
Al-Qahera News pointed out that Egypt is making huge preparations to bring humanitarian aid into Gaza, in addition to about 30 trucks loaded with fuel.
Thousands of displaced Palestinians in Gaza, carrying tents, clothes and personal belongings, began heading home on Sunday, as the long-awaited ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas came into effect after more than 15 months of war.
AFP journalists monitored the return of Palestinians to their homes in trucks, donkey carts and on foot, passing through large areas of devastation in Gaza, especially in the northern parts of the Palestinian territory.
The National reported that some residents of the Jabalia camp in northern Gaza, which has been under Israeli siege since October, did not wait any longer, and began returning to their homes in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The newspaper added, quoting eyewitnesses: “The destruction is beyond description… streets full of rubble, bodies scattered, nothing left standing.”
Eyewitnesses reported that the streets of Jabalia were piled with rubble and destruction, with the smell of decomposing bodies overwhelming the place, as many of the dead are still under the rubble, while others were rotting out in the streets.
The UNRWA announced that it has 4,000 trucks loaded with aid ready to enter Gaza Strip, half of which carry food and flour.
The government media office in Gaza announced that it has begun deploying thousands of police officers according to an official plan to maintain security and order in the Gaza Strip.
It assured the eager readiness of ministries and government institutions to start work.
A statement by the mayor of Rafah lamented the devastation of the city, with Israel’s assaults leaving it little more than rubble and ruins.
Initial estimates indicate the complete destruction of 30 municipal headquarters, the destruction of 15 water wells in the city, and the exit of nine medical centers from service, including four main hospitals, in addition to the obliteration of 90 percent of residential complexes in several neighborhoods of the city.
