Unicef says many displaced people had hoped their homes had been spared, but have returned to total devastation
Welcome back to our live coverage of the latest news from the Middle East.
Displaced Palestinian families who have returned to northern Gaza since the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas came into effect last month have been “shocked” by the “complete scale of destruction” of their homes and neighbourhoods, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef).
The families that I’ve spoken to this week here in the north of Gaza have been shocked by what they have returned to.
They’ve been shocked by the complete scale of this destruction. Even after seeing photos and videos from the south, they hoped that their homes, their neighborhoods, their communities, maybe had been spared.
Egypt will host an Arab summit on 27 February to discuss what it said were “serious” developments for Palestinian people, according to the country’s foreign ministry. Egypt has rejected Donald Trump’s plans – condemned as ethnic cleansing – to move Palestinians out of their territories in Gaza and the occupied West Bank to neighbouring countries such as Egypt and Jordan.
Speaking on Sunday, the US President repeated his pledge to take control of the Gaza Strip. “I’m committed to buying and owning Gaza. As far as us rebuilding it, we may give it to other states in the Middle East to build sections of it. Other people may do it through our auspices. But we’re committed to owning it, taking it, and making sure that Hamas doesn’t move back. There’s nothing to move back into. The place is a demolition site. The remainder will be demolished,” he told reporters.
A spokesperson for Israeli prime minster Benjamin Netanyahu said that an Israeli delegation arrived in Qatar on Sunday for further ceasefire talks between Hamas and Israel. Reuters reports that indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas on the next stage of the ceasefire are set to begin this week.
Continue reading…
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/feb/10/middle-east-crisis-live-palestinians-complete-destruction-northern-gaza-latest-news
