The Canadian Press

Rebel Hamas with military parade and appearance of top leader

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) – Hundreds of masked Hamas fighters wielding assault rifles marched through Gaza City and the group’s top leader made his first public appearance on Saturday in a provocative show of force after the militants’ 11-day war against Israel. Saturday marked the first full day of a ceasefire, and Egyptian mediators held talks to firm up the truce that ended the fourth Israel-Hamas war in just over a decade. During the fighting, Israel launched hundreds of airstrikes against militant targets in Gaza, while Hamas and other militants fired more than 4,000 rockets at Israel. More than 250 people have been killed, the vast majority of them Palestinians. In Gaza City, residents have started to assess the damage. One of Gaza City’s busiest shopping areas, Omar al-Mukhtar Street, was covered in debris, smashed cars and twisted metal after a 13-story building in its center was razed to the ground during an Israeli airstrike. The merchandise was covered in soot and strewn inside the destroyed stores and on the sidewalk. City workers swept broken glass and twisted metal from streets and sidewalks. “We really didn’t expect so much damage,” said Ashour Subeih, who sells baby clothes. “We thought the strike was a bit further away from us. But as you can see, no area of ​​the store is untouched.” Having been in business for a year, Subeih estimated his losses to be double what he had done so far. Videos and drone photos showed neighborhoods reduced to rubble, between homes and businesses left standing. Israel and Hamas won. On Saturday, hundreds of Hamas fighters dressed in military camouflage marched past the mourning tent of Bassem Issa, a senior commander killed in the fighting. Hamas leader in Gaza Yehiyeh Sinwar paid tribute in his first public appearance since the start of the war. Israel shelled Sinwar’s home, along with that of other senior Hamas officials, as part of its attack on what it said was the group’s military infrastructure. Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Israel had dealt Hamas a heavy blow, and Hamas numbers remained targets. Still, the ceasefire was widely expected to hold for now, although another round of fighting at some point seems inevitable. Underlying issues remain unresolved, including an Israeli-Egyptian border blockade, now in its 14th year, which is suffocating more than 2 million Gazans and a refusal by Islamic militant Hamas to disarm. The UN Security Council issued a statement on Saturday welcoming the ceasefire and stressing “the immediate need for humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian civilian population, particularly in Gaza.” Thousands of people gathered in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, calling for coexistence between Jews and Arabs. The fighting began on May 10, when Hamas militants in Gaza fired long-range rockets at Jerusalem. The roadblock came after days of clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police inside the compound of Al-Aqsa Mosque. The brutal tactics of the police in the compound and the threat of eviction of dozens of Palestinian families by Jewish settlers have inflamed tensions. The war has further sidelined Hamas’ main political rival, the internationally-backed Palestinian Authority, which oversees the self-governing enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Hamas’s popularity appeared to grow as it positioned itself as a defender of Palestinian claims to Jerusalem. On Friday, hours after the ceasefire went into effect, thousands of Palestinians in Al-Aqsa compound chanted against Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his self-government. “Palestinian Authority dogs, out, out,” they shouted, and “the people want the president to go.” It was an unprecedented display of anger against Abbas. The conflict has also brought to the surface deep frustration among Palestinians, whether in the occupied West Bank, Gaza or Israel, over the status quo, with the Israeli-Palestinian peace process virtually abandoned for years. Despite his weakened status, Abbas will be the point of contact for any renewed US diplomacy, as Israel and the West, including the United States, view Hamas as a terrorist organization. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due to meet Abbas and Israeli leaders during his visit next week. Abbas should demand that any reconstruction plan for Gaza goes through the Palestinian Authority to avoid reinforcing Hamas. Abbas met Egyptian mediators on Saturday, discussing the reconstruction of Gaza and Palestinian internal relations, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa. An Egyptian diplomat said two teams of mediators were in Israel and the Palestinian territories to continue talks on consolidating a ceasefire agreement and maintaining long-term calm. The diplomat said the talks include the implementation of agreed measures in Gaza and Jerusalem, including ways to prevent the practices that led to the latest fighting. He didn’t elaborate. He was apparently referring to the violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the plan to evict Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the behind-the-scenes deliberations. Meanwhile, a convoy of 130 trucks with humanitarian aid and medical supplies reached the Gaza border from Egypt on Saturday, according to a senior Egyptian official at the border post. He spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to reporters. Across Gaza, an assessment of damage to the territory’s already decrepit infrastructure has begun. The Ministry of Public Works and Housing said 769 dwellings and commercial units had been rendered uninhabitable, at least 1,042 units in 258 buildings had been destroyed and just over 14,500 units suffered minor damage. The United Nations has said about 800,000 people in Gaza do not have regular access to clean running water, as nearly 50% of the water system has been damaged in the fighting. Israel said it was targeting Hamas’s military infrastructure, including a vast system of tunnels passing under roads and homes, as well as command centers, rocket launchers and commanders’ homes. The IDF said it was trying to minimize damage to civilians and accused Hamas of using civilians as human shields. Gaza’s health ministry says at least 248 Palestinians were killed, including 66 children and 39 women, and 1,910 people were injured. He does not distinguish between combatants and civilians. Twelve people were killed in Israel, all but one of the civilians, including a 5-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl. Israel accused Hamas and the small militant Islamic Jihad group of hiding the real number of fighters killed in the war. Prime Minister Netanyahu said on Friday that more than 200 militants were killed, including 25 senior commanders. Islamic Jihad made its first account on Saturday of the dead in its ranks, claiming that 19 of its commanders and fighters had been killed, including the head of the rocket unit in northern Gaza. ___ Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press editor Sarah El Deeb in Beirut contributed reporting. Wafaa Shurafa and Samy Magdy, Associated Press