GAZA/JERUSALEM • Egyptian mediators have sought to reinforce a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants, and aid officials appealed for a period of calm to start tackling a humanitarian crisis in Gaza after 11 days of fighting.
The ceasefire, which began before dawn last Friday, was still holding on Saturday evening, enabling officials to start assessing the scale of the damage.
Despite confrontations between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters at a Jerusalem holy site last Friday, there were no reports of Hamas rocket launches from Gaza or Israeli air strikes on the Palestinian enclave overnight or on Saturday.
Rockets fired by Hamas and other militant groups paralysed towns in southern Israel during the hostilities, and caused panic, but did much less damage than the bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian officials put reconstruction costs at tens of millions of dollars in Gaza, where medical officials said 248 people were killed in the fighting.
A senior United Nations official on Saturday warned of increased health risks and widespread despair after homes, roads and other vital infrastructure including hospitals were damaged or destroyed.
"Everybody just needs to stand down and not to engage in any provocative moves," Ms Lynn Hastings, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Palestinian territories, said in a rubble-strewn area of Gaza City where she spoke to survivors.
Economists said Israel's recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic could be curbed by the hostilities. Medics said rocket attacks had killed 13 people in Israel before the ceasefire.
After mediating the ceasefire with US support, Egypt sent a delegation to Israel last Friday to discuss ways of firming up the truce, including with aid for Palestinians in Gaza, Hamas officials told Reuters.
The delegates have since been shuttling between Israel and Gaza, and on Saturday met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, an aide to the Palestinian leader said.
A source familiar with planning said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken would visit Israel and the West Bank on Wednesday and Thursday, hoping to build on the ceasefire. Mr Mahmoud, however, has little influence in Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas.
US President Joe Biden said last Thursday that Washington would work with the UN on bringing humanitarian and reconstruction assistance to Gaza, with safeguards against funds being used to arm Hamas, which the West deems a terrorist group.
The UN Security Council on Saturday called for "full adherence" to the ceasefire and stressed the immediate need for humanitarian aid for Palestinian civilians.
The 15-member council issued a statement, which had to be agreed by consensus, after being unable to speak during the 11-day conflict due to opposition by the United States.
Israel's Foreign Ministry said in response it was "very unfortunate" that the Security Council "ignored the launching of over 4,000 rockets at Israeli civilians from populated areas in Gaza".
Seeking to build on the truce, the European Union's foreign policy chief, Mr Josep Borrell, on Saturday urged Israel and the Palestinians to return to meaningful negotiations towards a two-state solution, which have been deadlocked for years.
REUTERS
