A ceasefire is just the start of peacekeeping and not its end. This is true for the residents of Gaza, who are currently taking up the tough task of rebuilding almost everything. This rebuilding process inside the devastated Palestinian territory ‘will take an awful lot of time’, according to a UN official in Gaza. The United Nations reportedly is removing 42 million tonnes of rubble, which will take more than a decade and $1.2 billion.
Aid Pouring Into Gaza
After the ceasefire and hostage release deal conducted between Israel and Hamas on Sunday, approximately 1,545 aid lorries have crossed into the Gaza territory. These lorries are bringing in desperately needed food, tents, blankets, mattresses, and clothes for those stuck outside their destroyed houses, this winter.
The ceasefire deal reportedly requires a total of 608 lorries, out of which 50 will only carry fuel. This aid will enter Gaza every day during the first phase, which will last for six months. During this time, Hamas should also release 33 Israeli hostages in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners detained inside Israeli jails.
“We’re expecting a major uptick in the volume of aid that’s coming in, and of course, it’s far easier for us to go and collect that aid because many of the problems that we have faced so far in the war go away when the fighting stops,” said Mr. Sam Rose, the acting director of the UN agency for Palestinian refuge (UNRWA), to reporters of an international news agency in Gaza.
