Gaza clears rubble, buries dead
Gaza City, Palestinian Territories (AFP):
Shell-shocked Gazans sifted through the rubble of three days of deadly fighting between Israel and Islamic Jihad fighters as a truce held and life slowly returned to normal.
An Egypt-brokered ceasefire reached late Sunday ended the intense fighting that killed 46 people including 16 children and wounded 360 in the enclave, according to Gaza’s health ministry, updating an earlier toll of 44.
Israel had since Friday launched a heavy aerial and artillery bombardment of Islamic Jihad positions in the Gaza Strip, leading the fighters to fire more than a thousand rockets in retaliation, according to the Israeli army.
As relative calm returned to Gaza, and electricity was restored, Palestinians tried to salvage their belongings from the rubble of shattered homes and to clear the debris.
US President Joe Biden welcomed the truce and thanked Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for Cairo’s role in brokering it.
Islamic Jihad is aligned with Gaza’s rulers Hamas but often acts independently. Hamas has fought four wars with Israel since seizing control of the enclave in 2007, including the conflict in May last year.
The United Nations Security Council was to hold an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss the situation in Gaza.
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