More than 5.000 missions, including humanitarian, health, rescue, and aid operations, were carried out by Gaza government bodies in the past 24 hours, the Gaza Government Media Office announced on Friday, as the first steps of the new ceasefire plan come into effect.
As part of a comprehensive emergency plan aimed at gradually restoring life in the Strip, Gaza municipalities carried out more than 900 services to restore water and sewage networks, remove rubble and waste, and open streets in residential areas.
Civil defense teams, together with other officials, worked in more than 850 operations to retrieve the bodies of deceased civilians from the rubble.
The Ministry of Health carried out more than 1.200 medical missions, including surgical operations and emergency medical assistance.
Government organizations and partner institutions provided shelter and food for displaced civilians in more than 700 operations. Several organizations documented field activities to ensure accurate data.
Psychosocial support activities were provided to children and vulnerable groups in more than 650 community missions.
Restoring services in the ruins
“These national efforts are being carried out amid the massive destruction left behind by the (Israeli) occupation, which has devastated more than 90 percent of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, destroyed around 300.000 housing units, and forcibly displaced two million people, who are facing a severe shortage of fuel, water, communications, and basic necessities,” the statement said.
According to the Gaza government data, the Israeli army killed more than 8.000 government employees while on duty.
The government called on the international community and humanitarian groups to provide field support and logistical supplies, in addition to the immediate lifting of the blockade and the opening of all crossings without political conditions.
After the ceasefire came into effect on Friday, tens of thousands of Palestinians headed to areas vacated by Israeli forces.
Thousands of displaced civilians began moving from southern Gaza back to their homes in the north, most of them on foot. Some crossed the hours-long journey using the few vehicles still functioning amid the fuel shortage, along with carts, bicycles, and motorcycles.
At the same time, thousands of people returned to their homes in the central Gaza Strip and some eastern parts of Khan Younis in the south, following the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
Transfers from south to north were carried out via the Al-Rashid coastal road in the west and the Salah al-Din central road.
Hundreds of displaced civilians set up tents on the ruins of their homes upon their return.
Israelis withdraw, local forces in Gaza maintain order
The gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces to the yellow line was completed on Friday in accordance with the plan of the United States (U.S.) President Donald Trump.
The military forces withdrew from Gaza City in the north, excluding the Shejaiya neighborhood and some parts of the Al-Tufah and Zeitoun neighborhoods, as well as from central and eastern parts of Khan Younis in the south. Palestinians were prevented from entering Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia in northern Gaza.
Forces of Gaza’s Ministry of Interior and National Security were deployed at main intersections and markets in the areas from which the Israeli army withdrew.
Trump announced on Wednesday that Israel and Hamas had agreed on the first phase of a 20-point plan to establish a ceasefire in Gaza, release all Israeli hostages held there in exchange for about 2.000 Palestinian prisoners, and gradually withdraw Israeli forces from the entire Gaza Strip.
The first phase of the agreement took effect on Friday at noon local time (9:00 a.m. GMT).
The second phase of the plan envisions establishing a new governance mechanism in Gaza without Hamas’s participation, forming security forces made up of Palestinians and troops from Arab and Islamic countries, and disarming Hamas.
Since October 2023, nearly 67.700 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks, the majority of them women and children.
