DOHA - Qatar, a key backer of Palestinian militant group Hamas, hailed the Gaza ceasefire accord and offered to help rebuild the enclave battered by seven weeks of Israeli bombardment.



The accord for a long-term ceasefire which came into effect on Tuesday was thanks "firstly to the resistance and the sacrifices" of the Palestinians, the gas-rich Gulf emirate said in a statement.



It said Qatar, which is home to Khaled Meshaal, the exiled chief of the Islamist movement Hamas, was "ready to contribute to the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip as soon as possible."

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4564654,00.html

Both sides claim the indefinite truce as a "victory", but Netanyahu faces criticism in Israel over the offensive.


Thousands are returning home to piles of rubble [AP]

Last updated: 27 Aug 2014

An open-ended ceasefire in the Gaza war was holding as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced strong criticism in Israel over a costly conflict with Palestinian fighters in which no clear victor emerged.

On the streets of the battered, Hamas-run Palestinian enclave, people headed to shops and banks, trying to resume the normal pace of life after seven weeks of fighting.


Thousands of others, who had fled the battles and sheltered with relatives or in schools, returned home, where some found only rubble, Reuters news agency reported.

Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons, reporting from Gaza, said people were now trying to work out what to do next.

"The United Nations estimates that if restrictions remain in place the way they have been, it will take something like 15 years to reconstruct the Gaza Strip," our correspondent said.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/08/clone.of.life-returns-gaza-as-truce-holds-20148271.html

and Forcibly Displaced from Centers of Cities

Tuesday, 26 August 2014





in full: http://www.pchrgaza.org/portal/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10617:systematic-attacks-on-multi-storey-buildings-and-palestinian-civilians-terrified-and-forcibly-displaced-from-centers-of-cities&catid=36:pchrpressreleases&Itemid=194

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israel authorities have begun implementing the terms of a ceasefire agreement that went into effect early Tuesday, officials in Gaza said, as life slowly began returning to normal after 50 days of bombardment on the besieged coastal enclave.

As Palestinian farmers returned to their fields and fishermen began venturing out to the sea again, the situation had noticeably improved from before the war.

Officials told Ma'an that farmers were able to tend to fields around 100 meters from the border fence, suggesting that the Israeli security buffer zone has been drastically reduced from its previous range.

Before Israel's recent Operation Protective Edge, Israeli forces opened fire on those who entered the buffer zone, which ranged from 500-1500 meters from the border and encompassed 17 percent of Gaza's total land area and 35 percent of its agricultural land, directly affecting the lives and livelihoods of more than 100,000 Gazans.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=723767

Israel will commit to opening all the crossings with the Gaza Strip and allow the entrance of humanitarian, relief and construction materials for the reconstruction under Israeli supervision, under the terms of the ceasefire agreement signed with Hamas, Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth published yesterday.

In an article entitled "Crossings will open without demilitarisation: details of the deal with Hamas", the newspaper said Israel will also expand the fishing zone beyond three miles. It said Hamas' demands to transfer salary payments; money and prisoners, having a seaport, airport and other requests would be discussed in the upcoming round of talks.

According to the newspaper, the initial deal did not include an Egyptian commitment to open the Rafah Crossing or the length of the buffer zone along the borders with Gaza.

The office of the prime minister claimed it told the office ministers about the deal; therefore, there was no need to vote on it in the Security Cabinet.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/13768-crossings-will-open-without-demilitarisation

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh greeted thousands of Palestinians in a central Gaza square on Wednesday in a massive victory rally following the signing of a long-term ceasefire that concluded 50 days of intense conflict with Israel.

The speech followed the release of polls earlier in the day showing widespread belief in Gaza that the Palestinian military resistance had increased its deterrence capacity and overwhelming support for the firing of rockets into Israel.

In his speech, Haniyeh hailed the people of Gaza and the resistance forces for their steadfastness in the fight against Israel, which claimed the lives of more than 2,100 Palestinians -- the overwhelming majority of whom were civilians -- and left 64 Israeli soldiers dead, in addition to six civilians in Israel.

"Those whose blood was spilled and the martyrs were the fuel of this victory," Haniyeh said during the rally, emphasizing to the crowd of thousands that the resistance had been preparing for the battle for years.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=723841

More than 200 tons of humanitarian aid sent by Saudi Arabia, the Sultanate of Oman and Turkey arrived Wednesday in the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing with Egypt, said an official at the border.


A medical aid convoy sent by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia carried 150 tons of medicinal and medical equipment into Gaza, the official said.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4564950,00.html