Gaza truce remains until the second day, more captives will be released | News of the Israel-Palestine conflict

Palestinians are temporarily safe from shelling, but the UN said Gaza saw an “intensification” of Israeli attacks before the truce.

Palestinians in the war-torn Gaza Strip are experiencing a second day of relative calm without Israeli attacks as a temporary pause in the fighting.

After nearly 50 days of constant Israeli bombardment that has killed nearly 15,000 Palestinians in the enclave, a a four-day truce went into effect early Friday and Saturday seemed to progress unimpeded.

But the United Nations said on Friday that “the 24 hours leading up to the pause witnessed an intensification of Israeli attacks from the air, land and sea” across Gaza.

The temporary truce has allowed the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, where no site has proven to be safe in the last seven weeks, to experience his first night’s sleep without fear of dying in an Israeli airstrike.

It also gave families time to try to secure supplies of food and water, which have become scarce amid the relentless assault on the besieged enclave.

Some chose to return to the northern parts of Gaza, which have seen the worst of the fighting between the Israeli army and Hamas, amid a ground invasion of the area by Israeli troops backed by heavy machinery and air strikes Several Palestinians were killed on their way north when Israel ordered them to stay in the south.

Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Khan Younis in southern Gaza, said some Palestinians had the opportunity to visit surviving family members.

“It is also an opportunity for those who lost loved ones and friends or family to pay their respects and offer a prayer, as funeral processions and proper burials were not allowed under heavy shelling and relentless airstrikes Mahmoud said.

More captives to be set free

Palestinian journalist Ismail Abu Omar shared a video on Saturday, verified by Al Jazeera, showing a man searching for his family’s clothes under the rubble of his home in Gaza, which was destroyed by the Israeli attack.

Palestinian photojournalist Magdi Fathi has documented the testimonies of several displaced women who say nothing remains of their homes in Khan Younis amid Israeli bombardment of the enclave.

“I came to my house to take out some things, but I didn’t find anything. The Israeli army destroyed the place in a way we did not expect,” said one woman, who was among the thousands who returned to their neighborhoods after the start of the truce yesterday.

Another woman, a resident of Khuzaa, east of Khan Younis, said she was “shocked” by what she found. “The destruction is very great,” he said.

Khan Younis is one of the southern towns where Israel ordered residents of northern Gaza to evacuate, but has been attacked repeatedly by Israeli forces.

As part of the truce, 24 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza were released on Friday, 13 of whom are Israelis. More are expected to be released as the Israeli prime minister’s office said it had received a list of captives to be released on Saturday. Reports indicate that 42 Palestinians are expected to be released in exchange for 14 captives in Gaza.

It also premiered on Friday 39 Palestinian women and children who had been detained by Israel, some of them for years. They returned to their homes in the occupied West Bank.

During the four days of the pause, at least 50 people are expected to be released by Hamas, leaving about 190 captives in Gaza. In return, Israel is expected to release 150 Palestinians.

The truce, which could be extended, allowed the first aid since the start of the war to reach northern Gaza.