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As Cease-Fire Holds, Gazans and Israelis Tally Damage A Brief Cease-Fire Gives Gazans and Israelis a Chance to Take Stock
(about 3 hours later)
BEIT HANOUN, Gaza Strip — Families across the Gaza Strip emerged from shelters and returned to their homes during a 12-hour cease-fire on Saturday to survey the damage to their neighborhoods, collect belongings and help dig bodies from the rubble. BEIT HANOUN, Gaza Strip — Families across the Gaza Strip emerged from shelters and returned to their homes during a 12-hour cease-fire on Saturday to survey the damage to their neighborhoods, collect belongings and help dig bodies from the rubble, as Secretary of State John Kerry met in Paris with Arab and European diplomats to urge that the humanitarian truce be extended for at least another 12 hours.
For Akram Qassim, 53, all that remained of the three-story house he had shared with his two brothers and their families was a huge smoking crater strewn with rubble and twisted metal from an Israeli airstrike. Reading a statement on behalf of the diplomats, Laurent Fabius, the French foreign minister, appealed to Israel and Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza, to lengthen the temporary cease-fire and then pursue a more enduring peace that would “meet Israel’s security concerns” while also addressing “Palestinian expectations in terms of economic development.”
Here in Beit Hanoun, a hard-fit town in northern Gaza, Akram Qassim, 53, spent the start of the truce looking in disbelief at a huge smoking crater strewn with rubble and twisted metal from an Israeli airstrike — all that remained of the three-story house he had shared with his two brothers and their families.
“I expected that maybe a shell had hit it and caused some damage,” Mr. Qassim said. “But this is an earthquake.”“I expected that maybe a shell had hit it and caused some damage,” Mr. Qassim said. “But this is an earthquake.”
In southern Israel, a rocket landed in an open field just as the cease-fire was starting at 8 a.m. The police asked residents to remain off main roads being used to move military equipment around staging areas near Gaza. But residents who have spent much of the last weeks inside bomb shelters ventured cautiously outside, according to Israeli news reports, visiting soldiers in hospitals and helping farmers pick peppers from unprotected fields. More than 1oo bodies were recovered from embattled areas across Gaza on Saturday, including 21 members of one family, bringing the total Palestinian death toll to more than 1020. Five more Israeli soldiers were also reported killed.
Israel has said its Gaza offensive is necessary to halt rocket fire by Palestinian militants on its cities and towns and to destroy an extensive tunnel network built by Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza. In southern Israel, a rocket landed in an open field just as the cease-fire was starting at 8 a.m., but residents who had spent much of the last weeks sheltering in safe rooms ventured out cautiously throughout the day. People stopped by beaches in Ashdod and Ashkelon for short visits, Israel Radio reported, and television news contrasted footage taken Saturday of crowded cafes with that from last week when all such establishments were empty.
Palestinians see the war as a new case of Israeli aggression and believe that Israel has done little to protect civilians or their property, but Hamas is known to place weapons and fighters in residential neighborhoods and other places where civilians gather, including mosques. “I was very hesitant, because we know who we’re dealing with,” a beachgoer identified only as Sigalit said in a radio interview. “In the end I decided to go out and see if people were around. “It’s fun, but there is still some fear. Let’s hope it continues so that we can enjoy ourselves a bit more.”
Four houses close to Mr. Qassim’s had also been reduced to piles of rubble; power lines that had been blown from their poles snaked across streets; and the air smelled of a dead horse lying in an empty lot. At Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon, a barber came to give haircuts to wounded soldiers. In Maslul, a small community not far from a staging area for soldiers in the Gaza operation, residents had set up 10 barbecue grills to serve the troops, along with showers and even a karaoke corner, Israel Radio reported. Elsewhere, volunteers helped farmers pick peppers from unguarded fields.
Israel has said its Gaza offensive is necessary to halt rocket fire by Palestinian militants on its cities and towns and to destroy an extensive tunnel network built by Hamas to sneak fighters into Israel.
Palestinians see the war as a new case of Israeli aggression and believe that Israel has done little to protect civilians or their property from the devastation wrought by its airstrikes. But Hamas is known to place weapons and fighters in residential neighborhoods and other places where civilians gather, including mosques.
In Mr. Qassim’s neighborhood, four houses clustered close to his had also been reduced to piles of rubble; power lines that had been blown from their poles snaked across streets; and the air smelled of a dead horse lying in an empty lot.
“Are all these houses tunnels?” Mr. Qassim asked. “Is that dead horse a tunnel?”“Are all these houses tunnels?” Mr. Qassim asked. “Is that dead horse a tunnel?”
Gaza’s health ministry said on Saturday that the total Palestinian death toll had exceeded 900, with at least 35 people killed in the 12 hours before the cease-fire began. The majority of Palestinians killed have been civilians. Health officials said Saturday that the bodies of 20 people killed by Israeli tank fire had been recovered from a single home in central Gaza, at least 18 of them from one family. They had been trapped in their home by shelling since Thursday, the ministry said.
It also said that the bodies of 20 people killed by Israeli tank fire had been recovered from a single home in central Gaza, at least 18 of them from one family. They had been trapped in their home by shelling since Thursday, the ministry said. Israel reported on Saturday the number of Israeli soldiers killed since the ground invasion began had risen to 40. Three civilians have been killed by rockets and mortars fired into Israel.
Israel said on Saturday that two of its soldiers were killed overnight, bringing the total since the ground invasion began to 37. Three civilians have also been killed by militant fire into Israel. Mr. Kerry, in lengthy discussions in Cairo last week, did not secure the seven-day cease-fire he had sought, but he continued to press his case in Paris with Mr. Fabius and their counterparts from Turkey, Qatar, Germany, Britain, and Italy, along with a representative of the European Union.
Israel’s security forces were bracing for more clashes in the West Bank, where two Palestinians were killed Saturday morning, for a total of nine since large demonstrations in solidarity with Gaza began Thursday night. Mr. Kerry later met separately at the residence of the American ambassador to France with Khalid bin Mohamed al-Attiyah, the Qatari foreign minister, and Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish foreign minister. Qatar and Turkey support Hamas and have served as intermediaries with Khaled Meshal, the political head of the organization, who resides in Doha.
Secretary of State John Kerry was in Paris Saturday to continue the diplomatic push for a longer-term cease-fire. Saturday’s lull was declared for humanitarian purposes and was to last from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a spokesman for the Israeli military, said that during the cease-fire Israeli troops were remaining in place across the Gaza Strip and continuing to search for underground tunnels.
Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a spokesman for the Israeli military, said troops would remain in place across the Gaza Strip and continue to search for underground tunnels during the pause. But he said, they would, not push forward or engage with militants, and would “enable the humanitarian activities to take place.” But they would not push forward or engage with militants, Colonel Lerner said, and would “enable the humanitarian activities to take place.” Israeli authorities said they were coordinating with international organizations to evacuate wounded and Palestinians, distribute food and repair utilities broken in battle.
Israeli authorities said they were coordinating with international organizations to evacuate wounded and Palestinians, distribute food and repair utilities broken in battle.
By Saturday morning, Israeli forces had found 31 tunnels and destroyed 15, Colonel Lerner said.By Saturday morning, Israeli forces had found 31 tunnels and destroyed 15, Colonel Lerner said.
“They’re continuing to operate against the tunnels,” he said. “There’s a lot of activity that needs to be done in order to destroy them, but other than that, we’re holding our fire.” “There’s a lot of activity that needs to be done in order to destroy them,” he said, “but other than that, we’re holding our fire.”
News of the pause spread through Gaza Saturday morning on the radio and through phone calls, text messages and word of mouth. As news of the pause spread through Gaza Saturday morning via radio, phone calls, text messages and word of mouth, cars, horse carts and people on foot crowded the main road to Bein Hanoun. Many spoke on cellphones with relatives elsewhere, sometimes breaking down or wailing when they received reports of their destroyed homes.
Cars, horse carts and people on foot crowded the main road to this hard-hit town in northern Gaza. Many spoke on cellphones with relatives elsewhere, sometimes breaking down or wailing when they received reports of their destroyed homes.
At one point, two men in black face masks and carrying assault rifles came walking from the opposite direction, suggesting that militants were using the pause to change positions.At one point, two men in black face masks and carrying assault rifles came walking from the opposite direction, suggesting that militants were using the pause to change positions.
Realizing that the pause was only temporary, many families collected a few items from home to ease their continued displacement. Men strapped mattresses to the tops of cars and packed pillows and bottles of cooking gas in their trunks. One man salvaged a flat screen TV. A woman carried a garbage bag full of blankets and canned beans on her head.Realizing that the pause was only temporary, many families collected a few items from home to ease their continued displacement. Men strapped mattresses to the tops of cars and packed pillows and bottles of cooking gas in their trunks. One man salvaged a flat screen TV. A woman carried a garbage bag full of blankets and canned beans on her head.
“Bring a stretcher! Bring a stretcher!” yelled a man working with a group of medics and a bulldozer to remove bodies from a home that had been flattened in a recent airstrike.“Bring a stretcher! Bring a stretcher!” yelled a man working with a group of medics and a bulldozer to remove bodies from a home that had been flattened in a recent airstrike.
“We have pulled out six so far and there are three left,” said Mohammed Nasser, who had relatives among the dead.“We have pulled out six so far and there are three left,” said Mohammed Nasser, who had relatives among the dead.
As the bulldozer dug, one of the dead was found with a Kalashnikov rifle at his side, suggesting that he – and perhaps the others – were militants. Cries of “God is great!” erupted from the crowd as the body was carried to an ambulance. As the bulldozer dug, one of the dead was found with a Kalashnikov rifle at his side, suggesting that he — and perhaps the others — were militants. Cries of “God is great!” erupted from the crowd as the body was carried to an ambulance.