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Displaced Palestinian families start returning to destroyed homes in Gaza after ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
A ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Palestinian armed groups in the Gaza Strip appeared to be holding on Friday, but there have been tensions in occupied East Jerusalem where Israeli police stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and fired tear gas at Palestinians after Friday prayers.
The Egyptian-brokered ceasefire came into effect in the early hours of Friday after 11 days of relentless Israeli bombing of the besieged enclave and thousands of rockets launched into Israel by Hamas, the group ruling the Strip.
Thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank poured onto the streets to celebrate the ceasefire, waving flags and flashing the “V” sign for victory.
Israel’s bombardment of Gaza killed at least 243 Palestinians, including 66 children, and brought widespread devastation to the already impoverished territory. On the Israeli side, 12 people, including two children, were killed.
Here are the latest updates:
Israeli police storm Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, fire tear gas
Israeli police have stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City.
Witnesses inside the compound said that after Friday prayers many Palestinians stayed at the premises to celebrate the ceasefire between Hamas and the Israeli government.
“They were singing and chanting when a contingent of the Israeli police [stationed] next to the compound came into the compound and started using crowd control measures that they use all the time, including stun grenades, smoke bombs and tear gas,” Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan, reporting from occupied East Jerusalem, said.
“They started firing in that crowd in an effort to try and disperse them.”
Nine bodies, including three-year-old child, found under rubble
Rescue workers have pulled the bodies of nine Palestinians including a child, from under the rubble in Gaza, local media said.
Eight of them were retrieved from under the debris of their houses in al-Qarara area, northeast of Khan Younis city, while the three-year-old girl was found under the ruins of her family house in Tal al-Hawa, south of Gaza City.
Israeli PM promises ‘new level of force’ if Gaza rockets hit again
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Hamas rulers against any further rocket attacks following a ceasefire.
In a speech hours after the truce took effect, he said, “If Hamas thinks we will tolerate a drizzle of rockets, it is wrong.” He promised to respond with “a new level of force against any expression of aggression against communities around Gaza and any other part of Israel”.
Netanyahu also hailed Israel’s 11-day bombardment of Gaza as “an exceptional success”.
World should know about ‘terror state of Israel’: Erdogan
Turkey will continue to show the world how the map of Palestine has changed since the start of the Israeli occupation, said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“The whole world should know what this terror state of Israel is,” Erdogan said at the opening ceremony of the seventh section of the North Marmara Motorway.
Highlighting Thursday’s UN General Assembly meeting on the crisis, Erdogan said a “successful session” was held under the presidency of Volkan Bozkir, a Turkish diplomat, and with the attendance of Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, as well as other foreign ministers who stand together on the issue.
“They talked about how Palestine was occupied by this terror state of Israel since 1947, and was turned into a (small) piece of land today,” Erdogan said.
Mapping Gaza: Schools, hospitals, refugee camps and more
Israeli air raids on Gaza damaged at least 51 education facilities, including 46 schools, two kindergartens, a UN training centre, and parts of the Islamic University of Gaza, according to the United Nations’ latest humanitarian report.
At least 66,000 people are still sheltering in 58 UN-run schools across the Gaza Strip. Israeli raids also damaged at least six hospitals and 11 primary healthcare centres, including Gaza’s only COVID-19 testing laboratory that was left inoperable following an Israeli attack that hit a nearby building on May 17.
Gaza’s electricity network also suffered damage, leading to 20-21 hours of daily power outages. This has affected water and sanitation facilities across the Strip, leaving at least 250,000 people without access to drinking water.
Five bodies found, about 10 survivors rescued in Gaza tunnel: Officials
Emergency workers recovered five bodies and rescued around 10 survivors from the rubble of what appeared to be a tunnel in Gaza hit by Israeli air raids, medics and witnesses told AFP news agency.
Raed al-Dahshan, deputy head of Gaza’s civil defence, said they were still sifting through the rubble to find more bodies, hours after the ceasefire.
Pro-Palestinian protest in Japan
Hundreds of demonstrators in Japan’s capital, Tokyo, gathered near the Israeli embassy to show their support for Palestinians.
“I live in Japan, so what can I do other than to come here to express myself from my heart? Today is a work day for me, but I gave up my work today because we have to come here,” Omar, an Algerian businessman, told Al Jazeera.
“The minimum thing we can do is to use our voices to tell them, ‘You are not alone’,” he said.
Hundreds of demonstrators in Japan’s capital Tokyo gathered near the Israeli embassy to show their support for the Palestinian people [Michael Penn/Al Jazeera]
Save the Children urges blockade lifting
Save the Children welcomed the news of a ceasefire, but urged countries to address the causes of the latest escalation that killed 65 children in Gaza and two in Israel.
“An end to the fighting, does not mean an end to children’s suffering,” said Jason Lee, Save the Children’s country director in the occupied Palestinian territory.
“Many will live with the mental, emotional and physical scars all their lives. Steps must be taken to immediately lift the blockade, which has been the root cause of the persistent denial of the rights of children in Gaza,” said Lee.
A Palestinian boy sits looking at others inspecting the damage of their shops following Israeli air strikes on Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip [Khalil Hamra/AP]
France welcomes truce
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian welcomed the ceasefire, and said France was determined to play a key role in trying to secure a political solution to the crisis.
Man arrested in India for Facebook appeal to hoist Palestine flag
Police in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh have arrested a Muslim man who had appealed on social media to hoist the Palestinian flag on homes and vehicles in a show of solidarity against the Israeli offensive on Gaza.
Azamgarh district’s senior superintendent of police Sudhir Kumar Singh told Al Jazeera that they have arrested the man, identified as Yasir Akhtar, after he posted a message on his Facebook page, calling residents in his Saraimeer village to display the flag after the congregational prayers on Friday.
‘Peace became a dream’
Leila Barhoum, a humanitarian worker and human rights advocate based in Gaza, said Palestinians are used to ceasefires.
“We always get to a ceasefire, it’s just a question of when and what will be the loss until then,” Barhoum told Al Jazeera.
“It’s really disappointing that only after 11 days the international community put out some efforts for the ceasefire to take place,” she said.
World leaders’ messages welcoming the truce are always the same, Barhoum argued, while a “strong effort” for a long lasting peace was never put in place.
“I try to remember a year when we had a good life, and I can’t trace one to go back to,” she said. “So peace became a dream, even a theory, that we try to achieve,” she said.
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Mideast ceasefire ‘good’ but conflict causes must be addressed: Germany
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas joined a chorus of leaders welcoming the ceasefire.
“Good that there is now a ceasefire,” Maas tweeted, a day after he visited Israel and the city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank for talks. “Now we have to deal with the causes, rebuild trust and find a solution to the Middle East conflict,” he said.
Lufthansa, Austrian, SWISS to resume flights to Tel Aviv on Sunday
German Lufthansa , Austrian Airlines and Swiss aim to resume flights to Tel Aviv, Lufthansa said.
Lufthansa had said on May 13 that it was suspending all flights to Tel Aviv due to the escalating conflict.
US secretary of state to visit the region ‘soon’
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a phone call with his Israeli counterpart Gabi Ashkenazi saying that he intends to visit the region “soon,” according to the Israeli foreign minister.
“I welcomed his decision and told him that we would welcome him warmly and that I look forward to continuing our discussions on advancing regional strategic issues for maintaining Israel’s security and regional stability,” Ashkenazi added on Twitter.
@SecBlinken informed me that he intends to visit the region soon.
I welcomed his decision & told him that we would welcome him warmly & that I look forward to continuing our discussions on advancing regional strategic issues for maintaining Israel’s security & regional stability— גבי אשכנזי – Gabi Ashkenazi (@Gabi_Ashkenazi) May 21, 2021
Start of ceasefire like ‘first day of Eid’
Al Jazeera’s Youmna al-Sayed, reporting from Gaza City, said Palestinians began celebrating as soon as the ceasefire came into effect.
“They started cheering and cheering ‘God is Great’,” she said. “And for them today, it’s considered actually the first day of the Eid al-Fitr religious festival since the aggression started before the last day of Ramadan and they didn’t really get to celebrate Eid.”
Standing in the middle of ruins of a bombarded home, al-Sayed said displaced families had already returned from the United Nations-run schools they had taken shelter in “because of the very bad humanitarian conditions” they faced there.
“There was no water, no electricity and they went there taking nothing with them,” she said. “But these people now in these circumstances are compounded by the crisis of the very high poverty and unemployment rates in the Gaza Strip, as well as the restrictions in regards to the reconstruction materials that are allowed to enter the Strip. They have no alternative but to wait for the funding of the construction of their homes again.”
Israel and Hamas must build on ceasefire deal: EU commission
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, welcomed the ceasefire deal and urged both sides to build on it.
“I urge both sides to consolidate it and stabilise the situation in the long term. Only a political solution will bring lasting peace and security to all,” Von der Leyen tweeted.
I welcome the cease-fire that came into force today at 2am between Israel and Hamas.
I urge both sides to consolidate it and stabilise the situation in the long term.
Only a political solution will bring lasting peace and security to all.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) May 21, 2021
The news of the truce was also welcomed by the EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, who said that European institutions stand ready to “fully support” a “sustainable peace”.
Welcome the announced ceasefire bringing to an end the violence in and around Gaza.
Only a political solution will bring sustainable peace & end once for all the conflict. EU stands ready to fully support Israeli & Palestinian authorities in these effortshttps://t.co/wVevV9kNJM— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) May 21, 2021
China to provide humanitarian assistance to help Gaza recovery
China will send assistance to help treat the injured and find new accommodation for those left homeless as a result of the Israeli air attacks on Gaza, state media reported, citing Tian Lin, a spokesperson for the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA).
Scepticism in Israel in face of government claims that attacks set Hamas back
There is scepticism in Israel about the bombardment of Gaza and the ceasefire despite claims from the country’s defence minister that the attacks had set Hamas back, according to Al Jazeera’s Harry Fawcett, who is in West Jerusalem.
“There’s a lot of concern and questioning about where this has got anybody – apart from more destruction and more death,” Fawcett said, noting: “There’s a sense that this has all been said before.”
Hamas maintains ‘hands on trigger’ after ceasefire: Official
A Hamas official has told Reuters news agency that Israel must end its violations in occupied East Jerusalem and address damages from the bombardment of Gaza following the ceasefire, warning the group still has its “hands on the trigger”.
“It is true the battle ends today but Netanyahu and the whole world should know that our hands are on the trigger and we will continue to grow the capabilities of this resistance,” said Ezzat El-Reshiq, a member of the Hamas political bureau.
El-Reshiq said the movement’s demands also include protecting the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and ending the forced expulsion of Palestinian families from their homes in East Jerusalem which he described as “a red line”.
“What comes after the battle of the ‘Sword of Jerusalem’ is not like what came before because the Palestinian people backed the resistance and know that the resistance is what will liberate their land and protect their holy sites,” El-Reshiq said.
Rebuilding a ‘daunting challenge’ for Gaza following ceasefire
Some people in Gaza who had been taking shelter in school buildings after their homes were damaged in Israeli raids began returning as soon as the ceasefire began, according to Al Jazeera’s Youmna al-Sayed who is reporting from Gaza.
But she said many residents had had their homes completely destroyed and the task of rebuilding the city would be a “daunting challenge” due to the closure of border crossings which has starved Gaza of crucial building materials, fuel and other necessities.
“We are talking about rebuilding a territory that was already suffering a dire economic situation, high unemployment and the coronavirus outbreak,” she said.
