Sam Rose, acting director of Unrwa, the UN agency for Palestine refugees in Gaza, said the aid deliveries were just the beginning of the task of restoring a lifeline.
“We are not only talking about food, healthcare, buildings, roads, infrastructure, we have individuals, families, communities that need to be rebuilt,” he said.
“The trauma they’ve been through, the suffering, the loss, the grief, the humiliation and the brutality they’ve endured over the last 16 months, it’s going to be a very, very long journey.”
In Israel, the families of the three hostages who were freed in the first exchange spoke at a press conference in Tel Aviv on Monday night. Mandy Damari, mother of Emily Damari, a dual citizen of Israel and the UK, said Emily was in “high spirits” and “on the road to recovery” despite losing two fingers in the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas.
Meirav Leshem Gonen, Romi Gonen’s mother, said: “We got our Romi back, but all families deserve the same result, the living and the dead. Our hearts are with the other families.”
Ahead of the press conference, Israeli authorities released new footage showing Damari, 28, Gonen, 24, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, tearfully greeting their mothers Sunday moments after they were flown out of Gaza.
If the first phase of the ceasefire holds, 30 more hostages will be released from Gaza over the next 40 days in exchange for about 1,800 Palestinians released from Israeli prisons.
