Ceasefire over the rubble

The entire Gaza Strip is now in ruins due to Israel’s indiscriminate aggression for 15 months. Hospitals, schools, mosques, churches, refugee camps… There is no place where Israeli soldiers have not dropped powerful bombs. Death and the helpless cries of the injured are everywhere in Gaza. Survival has become unbearable for the people of Gaza as emergency services, including relief, are closed. In such a city of death, the much-awaited ceasefire is starting from Sunday. Israel has agreed to implement the ceasefire at 8:30 am local time (12:30 pm Bangladesh time).

46,788 people have been killed in this war that began on October 7, 2023. More than one hundred thousand people have been injured. Since the beginning of this war, it is said that more than half of the casualties are women and children. And the United Nations has said that children and women account for more than 70 percent of the casualties. The World Health Organization has said that the lives of 25 percent of the injured have been permanently changed. The UN Satellite Center has calculated that 69 percent of Gaza’s infrastructure has been destroyed. Most hospitals have been closed due to Israeli attacks. Even the hospitals that are being dug up are facing a shortage of medicines. Considering these, the WHO has said that about $10 billion is needed to rebuild the health sector in Gaza.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a global organization that declares famine, has said that 1.8 million people in Gaza are highly food insecure. Of these, about 133,000 are severely food insecure. The UN has repeatedly warned that Gaza is on the verge of a terrible famine. And almost everyone in Gaza has been displaced at some point.

Amid such a terrible humanitarian disaster, a ceasefire is beginning in Gaza. Even then, the people of Gaza hope that they will sow the seeds of life again in the ruins. They will stand up again. Many people in Gaza have been smiling since the ceasefire was declared last Wednesday. However, 122 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks even after that declaration.

Meanwhile, Israel was seen completing all the formalities for the implementation of the ceasefire yesterday, Saturday. In the first phase of the ceasefire, Hamas will release 33 hostages in the first six weeks. In exchange, Israel will release 737 Palestinian prisoners. The list was also published by Netanyahu’s administration yesterday. In addition, donor organizations waited yesterday with food and emergency goods, when the ceasefire will take effect, at which time they will enter Gaza with relief. According to reports, about 50,000 metric tons of food are waiting to enter Gaza. On the other hand, relatives of Israeli hostages are waiting at the Egyptian border to pull the released ones into their arms.

Incidentally, on October 7, 2023, the Palestinian independence organization Hamas entered Israel and carried out an unimaginable attack. 1,200 were killed. At the same time, Hamas fighters took 251 hostages. At that time, the Israeli army chief said that these hostages would decide the outcome of the war. After 15 months of bloody war, it was seen that Hamas was able to negotiate because of those hostages.

Now there is an argument about who lost this war, who won. Netanyahu had threatened to completely eliminate Hamas. But it turned out that Hamas’ top leaders, as well as mid-level leaders, were killed, but Hamas was not finished. Israel claims that they have killed about 17,000 Hamas fighters. On the other hand, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that they have already recruited the same number of fighters as Hamas has lost.

Ceasefire, Gaza, Israel,