GAZA: Thousands of Palestinians took to the streets, bursting crackers and firing in air, as celebrations broke out after Israel agreed to a long-term truce agreement following seven weeks of war.
As news spread that the seven-week Israeli assault on Gaza may have ended this Tuesday with a long term cease-fire agreement, the population of the battered flooded to the streets to celebrate.
As the news reached that the Cairo talks ended in truce, Palestinians poured into the streets of the war-torn enclave to celebrate as the Egyptian-brokered truce took effect at 1600 GMT.
People and traffic filled the streets with drivers honking horns and crowds chanting slogans.
The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas said the deal marks a victory for Palestinians and called for mass rallies in the occupied West Bank.
The deal calls for an indefinite halt to hostilities, immediately opening Gazas blockaded crossings with Israel and Egypt and extending the fishing zone for Gaza’s fisherman.
Israel and Palestine will also discuss the construction of a Gaza seaport and the release of Hamas prisoners in the occupied West Bank in a second stage of the truce to resume in a month.
Crowds filled Gazas streets with car horns and chants from mosque loudspeakers.
“Today we declare the victory of the resistance, today we declare the victory of Gaza,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said.
Meanwhile, Israel low-keyed response to the truce consisted of a statement issued by a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that declared Israel had accepted Egypts proposal for an open-ended cease-fire and would attend Cairo talks only if an end to rocket attacks from Gaza was guaranteed.
During the seven-week conflict, more than 2000 Palestinians, almost all civilians were killed, and thousands of homes in the Gaza Strip were damaged or destroyed.
Palestinian retaliatory fire killed 742 people, 68 of them soldiers.
“We have mixed feelings. We are in pain for the losses but we are also proud we fought this war alone and we were not broken,” said Gaza teacher Ahmed Awf, 55, as he held his two-year-old son in his arms and joined in the street festivities.
Social networks quickly were flooded with images and video of the celebration, as supporters from all around the globe expressed their hope for a prolonged peace in Gaza.
Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group: Join Now
Be Part of Quality Journalism |
Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast. |
| ACT NOW |
| MONTHLY | Rs 100 |  |
| YEARLY | Rs 1000 | |
| LIFETIME | Rs 10000 | |
