Editorial: Respite in Gaza

After more than 470 days of war, the people of Gaza had one good day on Sunday as the ceasefire in the Hamas-Israel conflict began. As part of phase one of the agreement, the Palestinian militant group released three Israeli hostages and in exchange the genocidal regime in Tel Aviv freed 90 Palestinian captives from the West Bank. Some 690 UN humanitarian aid trucks brought in food and medical supplies desperately needed by the starving population of the strip. There was great relief in Gaza and much happiness in the West Bank for the small mercies this ceasefire promises to bring.

However, even in the final hours before the respite, there was no relent from the Israeli Defence Forces. Even as negotiators were working out eleventh hour details, they continued their murderous bombardment of the strip, killing at least 19 Palestinians, including a family that did not know about the last-minute delay. They were among thousands of people moving back to where their homes had been, hoping to rebuild their lives.

The ceasefire is a complicated three-phase deal with final cessation of hostilities contingent on Hamas releasing 33 Israeli captives in the first phase and 65 in the second. Israel managed to reserve to itself the right to resume bombardment any time it chooses. Its forces will only partially withdraw from some of the corridors in Gaza it currently occupies.

While Gazans are happy for this respite, the challenges they face in the weeks, months, years and even decades ahead are monumental. At least 46,707 Palestinians have been killed in 15 months of non-stop bombardment by Israel, including around 18,000 children and equating to about one in every 50 residents. Nearly 170,000 structures have been damaged or destroyed, which represents about 69 percent of all buildings in Gaza. Only 18 out of the 36 hospitals are even partially operational. Approximately 88 per cent of schools have been partially or irreparably damaged. About 68% of Gaza's farmland, encompassing crucial irrigation systems and agricultural infrastructure, has been damaged or destroyed. An estimated 85,000 tonnes of explosives have been used in the conflict, resulting in over 42 million tonnes of debris, which poses a significant challenge for the recovery effort and may take over a decade.

Nearly the entire population of more than 2.5 million has been displaced, many families multiple times. Over 2.23 million people are experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity, with about 1.1 million living in catastrophic conditions. Some 322,000 children are at risk of malnutrition, and there is a significant rise in infectious diseases. An estimated 30,000 individuals facing life-changing injuries need rehabilitation.

The most significant thing the world can do for the people of Gaza is to remove all barriers to aid. All through its occupation, Israel constricted supplies at border crossings and slowed down procedures to hinder aid flow. The World Food Programme emphasises the necessity for all border crossings to be thrown open to rush food and medical supplies to multiple points of need. While humanitarian agencies have their work cut out, it falls upon the sponsors of this ceasefire, namely Egypt, Qatar and the US, to maintain the pressure upon Israel so that the three-phase deal leads to a permanent cessation of hostilities.