As Israel prepares to welcome home the first of 33 hostages freed under a ceasefire with Hamas, health workers warn of the psychological challenges they face after their 15 months in captivity.Nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are also set to be released as part of the agreement that took effect on Sunday.Of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war, 94 remained in Gaza as the ceasefire began, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Gaza hostages face long road to recovery
After celebrations, displaced Gazans return home to destruction
Columns of people hundreds strong were making their way home in northern Gaza on Sunday, flanked on both sides by countless buildings turned to rubble, as a ceasefire took effect in the Palestinian territory.In places, they crossed an ashen landscape, heaped with pulverised concrete and studded with the skeletons of ruined buildings.They walked towards the northern city of Jabalia in a haze of dust raised by the movement of hundreds of feet and vehicles over sandy soil on roads stripped of their paving.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: After celebrations, displaced Gazans return home to destruction
The three women hostages to be freed from Gaza
Three women hostages held by militants in the Gaza Strip for more than 15 months are on Sunday to become the first freed under a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.Here are their short profiles:- Romi Gonen, 24 -Romi Gonen, from northern Israel, was among dozens captured when Hamas fighters ambushed the Supernova rave festival and killed 364 people on October 7, 2023.During the attack, from which she attempted to flee by car, Gonen phoned her mother Merav Leshem Gonen, who tried to comfort her above the din of explosions.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: The three women hostages to be freed from Gaza
Hamas emerges from Gaza’s tunnels, showing it never lost control
Hamas has impressive control over every aspect of Gaza, from local media to hospitals and schools. It will galvanize all of this to help portray this as a victory for the group.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Hamas emerges from Gaza’s tunnels, showing it never lost control
How Hamas survived a year of the Israel-Hamas War
After a year of intense conflict, how did Hamas manage to survive and regroup in Gaza?
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: How Hamas survived a year of the Israel-Hamas War
Syria destroys millions of captagon pills, other drugs: official
Syrian security forces destroyed seized drugs Sunday including around 100 million pills of the amphetamine-like stimulant captagon -- whose production and trafficking flourished under ousted president Bashar al-Assad, an official said.A 2022 AFP investigation found that Syria under Assad had become a narco state, with the $10-billion captagon industry dwarfing all other exports and funding both his regime and many of his enemies.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Syria destroys millions of captagon pills, other drugs: official
Trump national security adviser: Hamas will never govern Gaza
He added in an interview with CBS's "Face the Nation," "Hamas will never govern Gaza. That is completely unacceptable."
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Trump national security adviser: Hamas will never govern Gaza
First post-ceasefire aid trucks enter Gaza: UN
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip on Sunday after a long-awaited truce between Israel and Hamas came into effect, the United Nations said."First trucks of supplies started entering" minutes after the ceasefire took effect on Sunday morning, UN aid official Jonathan Whittall, interim chief of the UN's OCHA aid agency for the Palestinian territories, said on X."A massive effort has been underway over the past days from humanitarian partners to load and prepare to distribute a surge of aid across all of Gaza."
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: First post-ceasefire aid trucks enter Gaza: UN
How will ceasefires in Gaza, Lebanon impact Hamas and Hezbollah?
The most likely impact of the two ceasefires is for all parties to avoid returning to war. The risk of one blown ceasefire leading to another will weigh heavily on their minds.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: How will ceasefires in Gaza, Lebanon impact Hamas and Hezbollah?
Biden welcomes Gaza ceasefire as aid trucks rush to help civilians
US President Joe Biden welcomed a ceasefire in Gaza and said hundreds of trucks were entering the seaside enclave to help its civilians.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Biden welcomes Gaza ceasefire as aid trucks rush to help civilians