Uneasy calm after the storm
Fierce 11-day conflict between Israel and Hamas ends as truce is declared; top US diplomat to travel to Middle East for talks
GAZA CITY/TEL AVIV: A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the group that controls the Gaza Strip, appeared to hold on Friday after 11 days of deadly fighting that pounded the Palestinian enclave and forced countless Israelis to seek shelter from rockets. Gaza City was quiet under a cover of clouds, with a thin column of smoke wafting into the skies after Israeli airstrikes came to a halt.
Palestinians celebrate
Celebrations were seen on Gaza’s streets in the minutes after the truce began as cars honked their horns and guns were fired in the air, while in the occupied West Bank, joyful crowds also took to the streets.
In Gaza, five more bodies were pulled from the rubble, taking the death toll to 243, including 66 children. The Israeli military said a soldier was killed as well as 12 civilians.
Despite the truce, Israeli police fired stun grenades at Palestinian worshippers near Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Friday. AFP reporters said forces fired rubber bullets and stun grenades at unarmed Palestinian protesters.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said 21 people were hurt in the Al-Aqsa clashes, including two who were hospitalised.
US President Joe Biden commended Israeli PM Benjamin
Netanyahu and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for working out the ceasefire, saying he believes there’s a “genuine opportunity to make progress”.
Biden also recalled his six phone calls with Netanyahu during the 11-day conflict, and “intensive high-level discussions, hour by hour, literally” that US officials had with Egypt and the Palestinian Authority.
“I believe the Palestinians and Israelis equally deserve to live safely and securely and to enjoy equal measures of freedom, prosperity, and democracy,” Biden said, “My administration will continue our quiet and relentless diplomacy towards that end.”
Residents on both sides of the conflict voiced relief that a ceasefire had taken effect. “People from both sides are done with what’s going on,” said Amwrah Dana, a Palestinian resident of Jerusalem.
In Tel Aviv, Avital Fast said, “I hope the truce will remain because the only thing that we want here is to live our life without any alarms or fire.”
US secretary of state Antony Blinken will soon visit West Asia and hold talks with Israeli, Palestinian and regional counterparts to discuss “recovery efforts”, said
US state department spokesman Ned Price.
Also in the US, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders is leading an effort to halt a $735 million arms sale to Israel amid mounting criticism of Israel. Sanders introduced a resolution on Thursday to block the weapons transfer.
In Pakistan, seven people were killed and 13 injured when a bomb exploded during a proPalestine rally in the Balochistan province on Friday. The rally was taken out to express solidarity with the people of Gaza.