Saturday, May 22, 2021

Clashes in Jerusalem hours after Israel-Palestinian ceasefire - News

 




Just hours after a ceasefire between israel and hamas came into force this morning there were clashes between israeli police and palestinians around the al-aqsa mosque in the old city of jerusalem violence at the holy site was one of the flashpoints that led to the 11-day conflict which has ended with both sides claiming victory in gaza at least 243 people were killed among them more than 100 women and children 12 people were killed in israel by rockets fired by palestinian militants our middle east editor jeremy bowen reports now from gaza at two in the morning the ceasefire started in gaza time to celebrate survival and to swear allegiance to jerusalem the holy city only 60 miles away that most gazans have never visited israel forbids it we sacrificed everything for jerusalem he's saying and in jerusalem palestinians were up late too delighted that hamas declared they were fighting for palestinian rights in the city israel says jerusalem is the eternal capital of the jewish people and will not be divided again first light in gaza was not a new start the conflict with israel runs deep but no air strikes and time to reflect men from islamic jihad who fought alongside hamas had no regrets they paraded in khan yunus one of gaza's towns to bury nine men from their unit they were killed in a strike on a tunnel on the fourth day of bombing hamas thought the tunnels were safe locating and hitting them from the air was a significant achievement for israel thousands came to honor the dead men here in gaza as well as in israel there is no sense that they've come to the end of their fight [Applause] the bodies could only be recovered after the cease-fire they're digging for others high morale here will infuriate israeli nationalist politicians once said israel had surrendered to terrorism this is a huge demonstration of support for the armed wing of hamas the cassand brigades and they're sending a message as well that despite the hammering they've taken from the israelis that they're still here they're still ready to fight and they're talking as well about jerusalem that's been the theme of many of the chants here in the cemetery and in jerusalem more violence betwee palestinian worshippers and israeli police at the axa mosque the holy places in the city are charged with national as well as religious significance for israelis and palestinians in gaza hamas claimed victory as israel did too the cease-fire stops the killing until the next time, it doesn't settle the conflict or even freeze it but it has transformed gaza's streets the people are out of hiding a day ago going out could get you killed now there's a chance to feel alive now the israelis are keeping a close eye on what's going on here the whole time i've been standing here i can hear a military drone in the air above but I think they're pretty confident the ceasefire is going to hold on the way down from jerusalem i could see them packing up their iron dome anti-missile system at least from some of the batteries and taking it away on a lorry now southern israel was absolutely paralyzed by the attacks even though there was that big disparity in casualty levels and here in gaza there's a lot of rebuilding to do people have lost their homes but as well as that the militant groups will be rebuilding their smashed up positions probably their tunnels and most of all their arsenals jeremy thank you jeremy bowen there reporting in gaza.

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