Egyptian mediators held talks on Saturday to firm up an Israel-Hamas cease-fire as Palestinians in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip began to assess the damage from 11 days of intense Israeli bombardment. A 130-truck convoy carrying urgent humanitarian aid headed to Gaza.
Saturday marked the first full day of a truce that ended the fourth Israel-Hamas war in just over a decade. In the fighting, Israel unleashed hundreds of airstrikes against militant targets in Gaza, while Hamas and other militants fired more than 4,000 rockets toward Israel. More than 250 people were killed, the vast majority of them Palestinians.
Gaza City’s busiest commercial area, Omar al-Mukhtar Street, was covered in debris, smashed cars and twisted metal.
A Palestinian official said an initial assessment showed at least 2,000 housing units were destroyed in the 11-day fighting. Naji Sarhan, deputy of Gaza's works and housing ministry, said that more than 15,000 other units were partly destroyed.
“We really didn’t expect this amount of damage,” said Ashour Subeih, who sells baby clothes. Having been in business for one year, Mr. Subeih estimated his losses were double what he has made so far.
Sticking points
Both Israel and Hamas have claimed victory. There was a widespread expectation that the ceasefire would stick for now, but that another round of fighting at some point seems inevitable. Underlying issues remain unresolved, including an Israeli-Egyptian border blockade, now in its 14th year, that is choking Gaza’s more than 2 million residents and a refusal by the Islamic militant Hamas to disarm.
The fighting began on May 10, when Hamas militants in Gaza fired rockets toward Jerusalem. The barrage came after days of clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Heavy-handed police tactics at the compound and the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian families by Jewish settlers had inflamed tensions.
Anger against Abbas
The war has further sidelined Hamas’ political rival, the internationally backed Palestinian Authority, which oversees autonomous enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Hamas’ popularity seemed to be growing as it positioned itself as a defender of Palestinian claims to Jerusalem.
On Friday, thousands of Palestinians in the Al-Aqsa compound chanted against Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his self-rule government. “Dogs of the Palestinian Authority, out, out,” they shouted, and “The people want the president to leave.”
Despite his weakened status, Mr. Abbas will be the point of contact for any renewed U.S. diplomacy, since Israel and the West, including the U.S., consider Hamas a terrorist organisation.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is to meet with Mr. Abbas and Israeli leaders when he visits in the coming week. Mr. Abbas is expected to raise demands that any Gaza reconstruction plans go through the Palestinian Authority to avoid strengthening Hamas.
Mr. Abbas met on Saturday with Egyptian mediators, discussing the rebuilding of Gaza and internal Palestinian relations, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
An Egyptian diplomat said on Saturday that two teams of mediators are in Israel and the Palestinian territories to continue talks on firming up a ceasefire deal and security long-term calm.
The diplomat said discussions include implementing agreed-on measures.
Separately, a 130-truck convoy with humanitarian aid and medical supplies reached Gaza from Egypt on Saturday, according to a senior Egyptian official.