Palestinians demand compensation for lost home after Israel ceasefire

Gaza City, Palestinian Territories (AFP):

Members of the Palestinian al-Louh family demand compensation after their home was destroyed in an Israeli airstrike on the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.

“Even with the ceasefire, this tragedy continues because the scale of the destruction is huge”, says resident Mohamed al-Louh, adding that his family asks the “concerned authorities to stand with us and to provide compensation and housing”.

A ceasefire took effect on Sunday, drawing people back into the streets after five days of airstrikes by Israel and rocket fire from Palestinian fighter groups, which left at least 34 Palestinians and one Israeli dead.

Egypt brokered the latest ceasefire, saying it had secured agreement from both Israel and the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad.

A Palestinian source confirmed Islamic Jihad’s agreement.

“We want to thank Egypt for its efforts,” Islamic Jihad political department official Mohammad al-Hindi told AFP. He has been in Cairo since the fighting erupted on Tuesday.

Israel’s National Security Adviser Tsahi Hanegbi thanked Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for Egypt’s vigorous efforts to bring about a ceasefire, a statement from the Israeli prime minister’s office said.

Israel’s response to the Egyptian initiative means “quiet will be answered by quiet, and if Israel is attacked or threatened it will continue to do everything it needs to do in order to defend itself”, he said.

‘What have we done?’

For days, life in Gaza and Israeli communities near the border has been a daily routine of airstrikes and sirens warning of incoming rocket fire.

Residents in the crowded Gaza Strip cowered indoors as the fighting raged, with streets empty and only a few shops and pharmacies open.

“The whole Palestinian people are suffering,” Muhammad Muhanna, 58, told AFP in the ruins of his home. “What have we done?”

In Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, a dead donkey lay in the ruins of a row of buildings levelled in an Israeli strike.

“No one is safe in their homes,” said Imad Rayan, 64.

A spokesman for the interior ministry in Gaza said on the final day of its campaign the Israeli military had concentrated on “targeting civilians, residential and civilian buildings”.

Gaza, a coastal enclave that is home to 2.3 million Palestinians, has been plagued by poverty and unemployment since Israel imposed a blockade in 2007 when Hamas won the election.

The territory has seen numerous wars between militant groups and Israel since then.

This week’s fighting was the worst in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since an August flare-up that killed nearly 50 Palestinians.

The conflict has escalated since veteran Israeli politician Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power late last year, heading a coalition of extreme right and ultra-Orthodox parties.