Guns silent as Gaza edges back to normalcy
Güncelleme Tarihi:
AP
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Ocak 24, 2009 00:00
GAZA CITY - Life in Gaza is returning to normal as the sense of grief that dominated the lives of Gazans during the deadly Israeli attacks begins to give way to a sense of relief. Despite the positive signs, the cease-fire remains fragile.
Gaza residents headed for Friday communal prayers and Israeli naval guns were largely silent as grief and shock began to mix with a palpable sense of relief in the coastal strip pounded by weeks of Israeli airstrikes and ground assaults. Gazans filled mosques without fear of Israeli strikes for the first time since cease-fires were declared by Israel and Hamas Sunday. Residents had endured weeks of nonstop gunfire along Gaza's coast after Israel launched a devastating offensive in late December.
Near two destroyed Gaza City mosques on Friday, men spread carpets on sandy ground to prepare for open-air prayers. In the main market of the Jebaliya refugee camp, large crowds shopped ahead of prayers and restaurants fired up huge vats with meat, cooking on wood fires because of a shortage of gas. Fruit merchants boasted shipments of apples and bananas from Israel. One owner said it was the first time in five months he'd been able to sell fresh apples.
Civilian deaths
The three-week Israeli offensive killed more than 1,300 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights. Thirteen Israelis were also killed during the fighting, according to the government.
All 221 of the Gaza schools run by the U.N. agency in charge of Palestinian refugees will reopen Saturday, according to Christopher Gunness, a spokesman for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency. Some 200,000 children study in the schools, which have been closed since the Israeli offensive began on Dec. 27. Thirty of the schools were damaged in the fighting, he said.
Israel opened its passenger crossing into Gaza on Friday, allowing free access for international reporters and humanitarian workers for the first time since before the offensive began. The restrictions on journalists had been condemned as a serious infringement on press freedom.
Michael Bailey of Oxfam International, one of the aid groups allowed through the Erez crossing on Friday, called the Israeli move "long overdue."
Despite signs that life was beginning to return to normal in Gaza, the truce remained fragile. A Palestinian farmer was wounded by Israeli gunfire along the border, according to Gaza health official Dr. Moaiya Hassanain. The sides' main demands for a durable cease-fire deal remain unmet. Israel insists on guarantees that Hamas will stop smuggling weapons into Gaza and halt its rocket fire on southern Israel, while Hamas wants Gaza's borders open to ensure delivery of vital supplies.
U.S. President Barack Obama addressed both stands on Thursday, saying his administration supported implementation of a "credible" system for stopping smuggling and calling for Gaza's borders to be opened for aid shipments, with appropriate monitoring. "Now, just as the terror of rocket fire aimed at innocent Israelis is intolerable, so, too, is a future without hope for the Palestinians," Obama said. "I was deeply concerned by the loss of Palestinian and Israeli life in recent days, and by the substantial suffering and humanitarian needs in Gaza. Our hearts go out to Palestinian civilians who are in need of immediate food, clean water, and basic medical care, and who have faced suffocating poverty for far too long."
Hamas unimpressed
Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said during a visit to Jakarta on Friday that he was unimpressed by Obama's comments. "It is a real pity what Obama has said, because his statements were a repeat of what the previous president has said," Abu Zuhri said. Hamas would keep up its fight against Israel, he said.
In an interview published Friday in the Israeli daily Maariv, Olmert defended the Gaza operation. He criticized accusations about "Israel's cruelty," saying Israel did what it needed to do to stop incessant rocket fire at its civilians and protect its troops. "When you win, you automatically hurt more than you've been hurt."
Near two destroyed Gaza City mosques on Friday, men spread carpets on sandy ground to prepare for open-air prayers. In the main market of the Jebaliya refugee camp, large crowds shopped ahead of prayers and restaurants fired up huge vats with meat, cooking on wood fires because of a shortage of gas. Fruit merchants boasted shipments of apples and bananas from Israel. One owner said it was the first time in five months he'd been able to sell fresh apples.
Civilian deaths
The three-week Israeli offensive killed more than 1,300 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights. Thirteen Israelis were also killed during the fighting, according to the government.
All 221 of the Gaza schools run by the U.N. agency in charge of Palestinian refugees will reopen Saturday, according to Christopher Gunness, a spokesman for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency. Some 200,000 children study in the schools, which have been closed since the Israeli offensive began on Dec. 27. Thirty of the schools were damaged in the fighting, he said.
Israel opened its passenger crossing into Gaza on Friday, allowing free access for international reporters and humanitarian workers for the first time since before the offensive began. The restrictions on journalists had been condemned as a serious infringement on press freedom.
Michael Bailey of Oxfam International, one of the aid groups allowed through the Erez crossing on Friday, called the Israeli move "long overdue."
Despite signs that life was beginning to return to normal in Gaza, the truce remained fragile. A Palestinian farmer was wounded by Israeli gunfire along the border, according to Gaza health official Dr. Moaiya Hassanain. The sides' main demands for a durable cease-fire deal remain unmet. Israel insists on guarantees that Hamas will stop smuggling weapons into Gaza and halt its rocket fire on southern Israel, while Hamas wants Gaza's borders open to ensure delivery of vital supplies.
U.S. President Barack Obama addressed both stands on Thursday, saying his administration supported implementation of a "credible" system for stopping smuggling and calling for Gaza's borders to be opened for aid shipments, with appropriate monitoring. "Now, just as the terror of rocket fire aimed at innocent Israelis is intolerable, so, too, is a future without hope for the Palestinians," Obama said. "I was deeply concerned by the loss of Palestinian and Israeli life in recent days, and by the substantial suffering and humanitarian needs in Gaza. Our hearts go out to Palestinian civilians who are in need of immediate food, clean water, and basic medical care, and who have faced suffocating poverty for far too long."
Hamas unimpressed
Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said during a visit to Jakarta on Friday that he was unimpressed by Obama's comments. "It is a real pity what Obama has said, because his statements were a repeat of what the previous president has said," Abu Zuhri said. Hamas would keep up its fight against Israel, he said.
In an interview published Friday in the Israeli daily Maariv, Olmert defended the Gaza operation. He criticized accusations about "Israel's cruelty," saying Israel did what it needed to do to stop incessant rocket fire at its civilians and protect its troops. "When you win, you automatically hurt more than you've been hurt."