Israel-Hamas truce offers respite from violence but Gaza's displaced just want to go home

Thetemporary truce agreement between Israel andHamas has offered some relief for many in Gazadisplaced from their homes during seven weeks of intense Israeli bombardments and ground battlesin the besieged enclave, but the future is still uncertain.

Fighting between Israeland HamasstoppedFriday the startof afour-day truce for the first time since the Palestinian militant group leda surprise attack on Israel thatkilled roughly 1,200 people andsaw 240 hostages taken, according to the Israeli government.

Israel then declared war on Hamas, which rules Gaza. Israeli airstrikesand ground troopshave killed more than 14,000 Palestinians, according to theHamas-run Health Ministry.

The United Nations says roughly1.7 million peoplehave been displaced by the hostilities and Israeli orders to evacuate the northern half of the Gaza Strip.

But the pause in hostilities, which allow for Hamasto swap hostages in exchange for Israel releasing Palestinans detained inprison, doesn't mean civilians in Gazacan return to check and see if the homes they fled are still standing.

"What's the point of a truce if we can't go back," said Umm Fawzi Abu Shehadeh, a 59-year-old staying in a tent with her husband and two children. They were forced to leave their home in Rimal, near Gaza City, for Khan Younis in the territory's south.

She's distraught that her 80-year-old father-in-law died on Friday and they couldn't be with him.

"Who will bury him? His kids are here," she told CBC News freelance journalist Mohamed El Saife.

"It's unfair what's happening to us," she said. "We, the people, were thrown under the bus. What's our fault in this?"

WATCH | Displaced Palestinians speak to freelance journalist Mohamed El Saife:

Displaced Gaza residents react to Israel-Hamas truce with hope, frustration

10 months ago

Duration 1:27

Some residents of Gaza expressed cautious optimism and frustration at not being able to return home at a camp for displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis as a truce between Israel and Hamas took effect on Friday. 'God willing were hoping the war ends completely, not just an extension, and we have an exchange of hostages,' said Amer Obaid, who is from Ezat El Sheikh Radwan. 'Enough. Were tired.'

Muhammad Abdel Bari also wishes to go back to his homein the Jabaliya refugee camp an area pummeled by Israeli airstrikes claiming totargetHamas leaders and infrastructure even if there's nothing left standing.

"If my home is destroyed, I'll pitch a tent over my home, on my land," said the 43-year-old.

He said he found some solace in the temporary truce and hopes it's extended even if he can't return to Jabaliya, which he left with only the clothes on his back.

"It's good in a sense that we feel hope for the kids. We feel stability," Barisaid.

The aid that is now being let into Gazawill make a difference for Bari and others.

By the end of the truce's first day, 196 trucks of humanitarian aid carried food, water and medical supplies through theRafahcrossing. It was biggest such convoy into Gaza since the Hamasassault on Israel and Israel's subsequent bombardment of the territory, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said.

"Instead of suffering for a bag of flour, it will be available," he said. "As for the water, instead of us never finding [it], we will have it consistently if it is distributed properly."

Azmi Radwan, a 49-year-old from Gaza City, is hopeful the influx in aid will make the difficult days a little easier.

He just hopes it's consistent, he said as he sat by a makeshift stove fashioned out of a barrel with a wood fire inside.

But what he would really like to see is the truce turn into a lasting calm not just an end to the fighting but promises that Gaza will be rebuilt.

"We were displaced [in] 1948 and in 1967," Radwan said. "In 2023, we don't accept [it]even if they erase all our children from the face of the planet.We do not accept under any circumstances being displaced a third time from Gaza."

WATCH|39 Palestinians released from Israeli jails on first day of truce:

Palestinians mark release of 24 women, 15 teens from Israeli prisons

10 months ago

Duration 2:08

Crowds gathered on the streets near Ramallah as 39 Palestinian detainees were released from Israeli prisons as part of a temporary ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. Another 150 other Palestinians are expected to be released in the coming days.