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world news Diasabra 22 Mei 2021

Palestinians see victory in Gaza truce as Israel warns Hamas

(AP) — Palestinians rallied by the and tear gas, and Palestinians hurled
thousands Friday after a cease- rocks after hundreds took part in a
fire took effect in the latest Gaza celebratory demonstration in which
war, with many viewing it as a they waved Palestinian and Hamas
costly but clear victory for the flags and cheered the militant group.
Islamic militant group Hamas. Israeli police said they arrested 16
Israel vowed to respond with a people.
“new level of force” to further
hostilities. Protesters also clashed with Israeli
troops in parts of the occupied West
The 11-day war left more than 250 Bank, which has seen violent dem-
dead — the vast majority Palestin- onstrations in recent days linked to
ians — and brought widespread Jerusalem and Gaza.
devastation to the already impover-
ished Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. But Thousands took to the streets of
the rocket barrages that brought life Gaza as the cease-fire took hold at 2
to a standstill in much of Israel were a.m. Young men waved Palestinian
seen by many Palestinians as a bold and Hamas flags, passed out sweets,
response to perceived Israeli abuses honked horns and set off fireworks.
in Jerusalem, the emotional heart of Celebrations also broke out over-
the conflict. night in east Jerusalem and across the Hamas militants in Gaza fired long- ally who leads a small party opposed
occupied West Bank. Israel captured range rockets toward Jerusalem. The to the prime minister, called the
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Ne- all three territories in the 1967 war barrage came after days of clashes be- cease-fire “embarrassing.”
tanyahu warned against further at- and the Palestinians want them for tween Palestinian protesters and Is-
tacks, saying, “If Hamas thinks we their future state. raeli police at Al-Aqsa. Heavy-handed Itamar Ben Gvir, head of the far-right
will tolerate a drizzle of rockets, it is police tactics at the compound, and Jewish Power party, told Israeli TV’s
wrong.” He vowed to respond with An open-air market in Gaza City the threatened eviction of dozens of Channel 13 that, with the cease-fire,
“a new level of force” against aggres- that was closed throughout the war Palestinian families by Jewish settlers the government “spat in the face of
sion anywhere in Israel. reopened, and shoppers stocked up had inflamed tensions. residents of southern Israel,” and said
on fresh tomatoes, cabbage and wa- it should topple Hamas and reoccupy
The Israeli leader, who is facing criti- termelons. Workers in orange traf- Competing claims to Jerusalem, one Gaza.
cism from his hawkish base for end- fic vests swept up rubble from sur- of the most volatile issues in the de-
ing the offensive prematurely, said Is- rounding roads. cades-old conflict, have repeatedly In a potentially damaging develop-
rael had done “daring and new things, triggered bouts of violence. ment for the Israeli leader, the Pales-
and this without being dragged into “Life will return, because this is not tinian militants claimed Netanyahu
unnecessary adventures.” He added the first war, and it will not be the last The cease-fire was brokered by neigh- had agreed to halt further Israeli ac-
that Israeli forces had caused “maxi- war,” said shop owner Ashraf Abu boring Egypt after the U.S. pressed tions at the Al Aqsa Mosque and to
mum damage to Hamas with a mini- Mohammad. “The heart is in pain, Israel to wind down the offensive. call off the planned evictions of Pal-
mum of casualties in Israel.” there have been disasters, families U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blink- estinians in the nearby Sheikh Jarrah
wiped from the civil registry, and this en plans to visit the region “to discuss neighborhood. An Egyptian official
He said Israeli strikes killed more saddens us. But this is our fate in this recovery efforts and working togeth- said only that tensions in Jerusalem
than 200 militants, including 25 se- land, to remain patient.” er to build better futures for Israelis “will be addressed.”
nior commanders, and hit more than and Palestinians.” the State Depart-
100 kilometers (60 miles) of militant There was little to celebrate in the ment said. Some 58,000 Palestinians sought
tunnels. Hamas and the Islamic Jihad hard-hit northern town of Beit Ha- shelter in crowded U.N. schools
militant group have only acknowl- noun. Residents, many of whom had Hamas and other militant groups amid a coronavirus outbreak. Thou-
edged 20 fighters killed. lost loved ones, surveyed wrecked fired over 4,000 rockets at Israeli cit- sands returned to their homes as the
homes. ies. Dozens landed as far north as the truce took hold.
The Gaza Health Ministry says at bustling commercial capital of Tel
least 243 Palestinians were killed, “We see such huge destruction here, Aviv. The fighting dealt another blow to
including 66 children, with 1,910 it’s the first time in history we’ve seen Gaza’s already decrepit infrastructure.
people wounded. It does not differ- this,” said Azhar Nsair. “The cease- Israel, meanwhile, carried out hun- The small coastal territory, home to
entiate between fighters and civilians. fire is for people who didn’t suffer, dreds of airstrikes. A senior Israeli more than 2 million Palestinians,
Twelve people were killed in Israel, who didn’t lose their loved ones, army official said Israel hit 1,600 has been under an Israeli-Egyptian
all but one of them civilians, includ- whose homes were not bombed.” “military targets” during the 11-day blockade since Hamas seized power
ing a 5-year-old boy and 16-year-old conflict. from forces loyal to Palestinian Presi-
girl. Rescue workers were still recovering dent Mahmoud Abbas in 2007, con-
bodies from areas that had been too The United States, Israel’s clos- fining his authority to parts of the
This map shows deaths across Israel dangerous to enter. Five were collect- est and most important ally, initially West Bank.
and Palestinian territories. The fight- ed Friday in the southern Gaza town backed what it said was Israel’s right
ing began May 10 when Hamas fired of Khan Younis, including that of a to self-defense against indiscriminate The World Health Organization says
long-range rockets toward Jerusalem 3-year-old, the Red Crescent emer- rocket fire. But as fighting dragged on 30 health facilities in Gaza were dam-
after days of clashes between Pales- gency service said. and deaths mounted, the Americans aged, with one clinic destroyed and
tinian protesters and Israeli police at increasingly pressured Israel to stop another with significant damage. An
the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Like the three previous wars, the lat- the offensive. airstrike damaged the only facility in
est round of fighting ended inconclu- Gaza processing coronavirus tests,
The truce faced an early test when sively. Israel claimed it inflicted heavy President Joe Biden welcomed the forcing a halt to testing in the terri-
clashes broke out between Palestin- damage on Hamas but once again was cease-fire. He said the U.S. was com- tory.
ian protesters and Israeli police fol- unable to halt the rockets. mitted to helping Israel replenish its
lowing Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa supply of interceptor missiles and to Fabrizio Carboni, regional director
Mosque compound, a flashpoint holy Hamas also claimed victory but faces working with the internationally rec- for the Near and Middle East at the
site in Jerusalem sacred to Jews and the daunting challenge of rebuilding ognized Palestinian Authority — not International Committee of the Red
Muslims. Clashes there earlier this in a territory already suffering from Hamas — to provide humanitarian Cross, estimated there were “several
month were one of the main triggers high unemployment and a corona- aid to Gaza. hundred” pieces of unexploded ord-
for the war. virus outbreak, and from years of nance strewn in Gaza, adding that
blockade by Egypt and Israel. Netanyahu faced heavy criticism medical supplies were a pressing
It was unclear what sparked Friday’s from members of his hawkish, na- need.
violence. Police fired stun grenades The fighting began May 10, when tionalist base. Gideon Saar, a former