About a thousand Palestinians trapped outside the building in the Gaza Strip during the war between Israel and Hamas have returned to their homes during the seven-day ceasefire, facing the prospect of renewed shelling, a Palestinian border official said on Thursday.
At the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza, yellow taxis with suitcases stacked on the roof and cardboard boxes and suitcases so full of luggage that they could not be closed, ferried Palestinians back to their devastated homeland.
One of them was Abu Nader, who said he traveled to Turkey on October 4 to accompany one of his daughters who was starting her studies there. The war started three days later when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel.
Nader flew to Egypt on October 24, but was unable to return to Gaza because the Rafah crossing was closed. He was imprisoned in Egypt until the armistice.
He said an Israeli attack destroyed his home in Gaza City’s Al Nasser neighborhood and that he had lost family members, but he wanted to be home to be with his other children and the rest of his family.
No one abandons their children or their country, even if they lose their home. All of Palestine is my home, not just Gaza or al-Nasser’s house, the entire nation is my home.
Egypt had announced through the Palestinian embassy in Cairo on November 23, the day before the ceasefire took effect, that Palestinians who wanted to do so would be allowed, but not forced, to return to Gaza.
The border official, who spoke to Reuters today, said the border crossings began on November 24 and have continued since then.
Destroyed landscape
When the Palestinians return, they will find a Gaza Strip very different from the Gaza Strip they left behind. Much of the northern half of the Gaza Strip, including Gaza City, has been turned into a desolate moonscape after seven weeks of Israeli bombardments, while in the south hundreds of thousands of displaced people take refuge in tents and schools.
Hospitals are no longer functioning, food, water and fuel are scarce and diseases are spreading, in what the United Nations calls a “humanitarian catastrophe.”
Reuters photo gallery.
Despite this, Intisar Barakat says he still wants to return home.
You cannot leave your country, your children, your home and your spouse. God willing, everyone will return and peace will remain
The ceasefire was originally agreed for four days, but was repeatedly extended, each time by 24 to 48 hours. On Thursday, mediators tried to extend it.
(With information from Reuters)
Source: La Neta Neta
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
