The residents of Ashkelon, southern Israel, were able to enjoy beach life again this weekend. After eleven days of rocket alarms and refuge in bomb shelters, Israel entered into a ceasefire with Hamas on Friday night.
Great contrasts
Just a few kilometers further south of Ashkelon, the contrasts can hardly be greater. Large parts of Gaza City have been destroyed by the intense bombing by the Israeli military, IDF.
– BEACH LIFE: Uri Maul says that it has been a difficult period, and hopes the peace will be long-lasting. Photo: Kjetil Iden / TV 2
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Uri Maul tells TV 2 in Ashkelon that it has been scary with all the missiles that have been fired at Israel from militant groups in the Gaza Strip.
– We want the violence from Hamas to end. They want to kill us, and we do not want to die, he says.
Maul believes the authorities did the only thing right when they bombed Gaza after Hamas sent rockets at Israel.
Poor conditions for coexistence
Although the parties have so far respected the ceasefire, it is clear that the underlying tensions are still very much present. TV 2 talks to several people on the beach in Ashkelon who say that this is the land of the Jews, and that there is no room for the Arabs.
One-fifth of the inhabitants of Israel are Arabs who received Israeli citizenship when the state of Israel was established in 1948, and descendants of them. Most identify as Palestinians.
– DO NOT BELIEVE IN CO-EXISTENCE: Shoval (left) and Noam (right) from Beersheba believe there is no place for Israeli Arabs in Israel. Photo: Kjetil Iden / TV 2
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Noam and Shoval are from Beersheba, and are on a beach trip in Ashkelon with the family. They deny that Hamas may have won anything in the war.
– We win. We win every time, she says and laughs.
Is there no room for both Jews and Palestinians in Israel?
– The Arabs can leave here and settle with other Arabs. We were here first, long before them, says Noam.
But not everyone agrees. On Saturday night, there were large peace marches in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, where protesters blame Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the deadly conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
In recent weeks, Jews and Arabs have attacked each other on open streets in several Israeli cities, while the rockets fired. The growing violence between the peoples has made the idea of peaceful coexistence between Jews and Arabs in Israel an even more distant reality.
Huge need for emergency assistance
Thousands of people fled their homes in Gaza when the fighting began, leaving only building remains to return to after the ceasefire.
More than 240 people were killed during the attacks in the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian health officials. On the Israeli side, there are 12 dead.
– MAJOR DESTRUCTIONS: More than 17,000 homes were destroyed or damaged after the bombing of the Gaza Strip. Photo: Emmanuel Dunand / AFP
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Among other things, the UN estimates that 800,000 people lack access to clean water in Gaza after the fierce fighting. The infrastructure, which has been through several rounds of war, has been even more destroyed.
Kathrine Holden is section leader for humanitarian analysis in the Red Cross, and says it is extremely important that the ceasefire is respected, so that emergency aid reaches those who need it.
– This is a population that has been hit by a blockade for 14 years, and the corona pandemic has not made things better. 70 percent of the population in the Gaza Strip needed humanitarian aid even before this latest escalation.
Holden says that the aid organizations are working with both emergency aid and more long-term, to rebuild and rehabilitate the area.
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