Destroyed houses await many of the returning residents of Gaza City as the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza were underway on Saturday. Photo by Mohammed Saber/EPA
Oct. 11 (UPI) — A cease-fire remains in effect in Gaza, where aid is flowing while Israel prepares to receive 48 released hostages, only 20 of whom are thought to be alive.
U.N. officials said medical supplies, fuel and other needed materials are flowing into Gaza once again as the fighting has stopped ahead of a proposed permanent peace, NBC News reported.
The Israeli military also has withdrawn to a predetermined line, which has started the 72-hour countdown for Hamas to release the remaining 48 hostages, including the remains of an estimated 28 hostages who are believed to be dead, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff announced.
No hostilities are underway in Gaza, which has enabled its remaining residents to begin returning to their former homes, many of which have been decimated during two years of war that started when Hamas launched an unprovoked attack on Israeli civilians on Oct. 7, 2023.
Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants killed some 1,200 Israeli civilians and others and kidnapped another 250, but released more than 100 during a prior cease-fire.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians are returning to cities and villages that largely have been destroyed, according to Al Jazeera.
Israel has agreed to release nearly 250 Palestinian prisoners and has begun notifying the families of those who were killed by the prisoners that Israel will release.
Israel’s partial withdrawal from Gaza and the exchange of remaining hostages held in Gaza and prisoners held in Israel are part of the first phase of the peace agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Israeli officials expect to begin receiving the living hostages and the remains of those who are deceased on Monday.
While the first phase of the peace agreement is underway, leaders of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine have rejected any potential foreign nations acting as peacekeepers in Gaza, though.
The United States is among the nations that are tasked with helping to maintain the peace in Gaza.
Gazan officials also are demanding an independent investigation of alleged Israeli war crimes and genocide against Gazans.
The demand comes after the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry reported about 67,000 Gazans died and 170,000 were injured during the two-year conflict.
The Health Ministry’s numbers do not differentiate between Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters and civilians, and the number of reported casualties has been disputed.
