Bombings erode faith in Gaza ceasefire

Initial enthusiasm giving way to fear that truce may not mean an end to war, but just more unpredictable violence

- Seham Tantesh GAZA and William Christou BEIRUT

Ameen al-Zein, like many in Gaza, was overjoyed by the news of the ceasefire. It was a rare moment of relief after years of fear and loss. Last Tuesday he gave an interview to a local NGO urging people to return to their homes in northern Gaza now that fighting had stopped. Just half an hour later, Zein was dead, killed in an Israeli bombing on the school where he had been sheltering in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza.

He died without being able to fulfil his vow to his wife that they would return to Beit Lahia and pitch a tent over the rubble, eager to be home even if their house was no longer there.

"When the most recent truce was announced, Abu Luay felt so happy and relieved," said his wife, Maryam, using a family name for him. "He told me that finally the bloodshed would stop and people could live in peace. Sadly, that feeling didn't last. Israel violated the ceasefire again."

Zein was one of 115 people killed and 352 injured during 24 hours of Israeli bombardment of Gaza last week, according to the Gaza health ministry.

The strikes came after Hamas returned body parts of a hostage whose remains troops had recovered two years before, and Palestinian militants attacked Israeli troops in southern Gaza.

It was the deadliest day in Gaza since the ceasefire was put in place on 10 October and one of the deadliest days in the whole of the two-year war.