It has been three days since Israel and Hamas agreed to a cease fire as mediators focus on extending the calm following the worst conflict in years which saw nearly 250 people in Gaza, including 66 children, killed by Israeli airstrikes.
After the cease fire, Gaza residents walked around their neighborhoods to get a better picture of what Israel's bombing had done. Huge piles of rubble are strewn everywhere, some blocking streets. Bulldozer and crane operators were working overtime, while others shoveled debris onto donkey-drawn carts. It was an unsurprising scene, BBC reported Monday.
Mediators are also now speaking to all sides to rebuild Gaza, where Israeli jets destroyed hundreds of homes and commercial buildings, struck six hospitals and 53 educational facilities, damaged roads and electricity lines, the United Nations said. Israel's military said it was targeting Hamas militants.
Egyptian peace negotiators have been shuttling between Israel and Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Hamas, to try to extend the peace, Al-Jazeera said.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has pledged the Biden administration will deal with "the grave humanitarian situation in Gaza" and will seek "equal measures of security" for Israelis and the people of Gaza as the cease-fire held throughout the weekend.
But in an interview with the ABC news program This Week, Blinken also reiterated the U.S. remained "committed to giving Israel the means to defend itself."
On Sunday, Lynn Hastings, the U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator for the Palestinian territories, said the U.N. would launch an appeal to reconstruct the damage in the densely populated Gaza, where there's a threat of COVID-19 spreading.
Jordan's King Abdullah stressed the importance of translating the cease fire into an extended truce, and said there was no alternative to a two-state solution between Israel and the people of Gaza.
In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will now resume his battle for political survival he was fighting before the 11-day conflict with Hamas.
