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Gaza returnees hit by harsh realities of devastated warzone

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Under the deal, 33 hostages held by Palestinian militants in Gaza are to be freed in the first six weeks of the ceasefire in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, many of them serving life sentences in Israel.

Seven hostages and 290 prisoners have so far been exchanged. Three more hostages were to be swapped for tens of Palestinian detainees on Thursday, according to Hamas and the smaller allied Islamic Jihad group.

Israel has received the list of hostages to be freed on Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said. It gave no further detail but authorities have previously said they would include two women, one of whom is a soldier, and one man.

Five Thai hostages may also be freed on Thursday, Israel’s Channel 12 reported.

A second stage of the deal, due to begin by February 4, is meant to open the way to the release of over 60 other hostages, including men of military age, and a full Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza.

If that succeeds, a formal end to the war could follow along with talks on the monumental challenge of reconstructing Gaza, now widely demolished by an Israeli onslaught that killed almost 47,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

The conflict was triggered by a Hamas-led cross-border attack in southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and saw more than 250 taken hostage.

In Jabalia, Khamis Amara returned to the ruins of his house to dig for the bodies of his father and brother, among the roughly 10,000 people missing and feared dead in Gaza, according to the local civil emergency service.

“I was once under the rubble with my father and brother, just as they still are. But I made it out,” Amara said.

“Life here is unbearable. Honestly, it’s all a lie. Those in the south should just stay there — it’s better for them.”

Reuters

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