The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has warned that displaced people who are returning to northern Gaza face high risks, as Israeli strikes have destroyed about 90 percent of buildings and public infrastructure and they lack access to basic essentials in the area.
“The risks of unexploded devices, particularly for children, are very high. And mostly the access to food, to daily comforts is almost non-existent except for – thankfully, over the last eight days of the ceasefire – the aid that has come in,” UNRWA Director of External Relations and Communications Tamara Alrifai told al Jazeera on Monday.
Earlier in the day, hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians began returning to the northern part of the war-wracked Gaza Strip after a ceasefire deal was reached between the Palestinian resistance group Hamas and Israel that includes exchange of Israeli captives and Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas has called the return “a victory” for Palestinians, while the Palestinian Islamic Jihad said it was a “response to all those who dream of displacing our people.”