Israel-Gaza ceasefire latest: Trump revokes US sanctions as 12 hurt in West Bank attacks by Israeli settlers – UK Times

Palestinians on Monday said they felt hesitant about leaving the shelters they fled to after being displaced by war and returning to the wreckage of their former homes in Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza.

“We wanted to come back to put up a tent during the ceasefire. As you can see it has become a ghost town. There is no water. There is nothing. There is even no levelled ground you can stay on,” said Hussein Barakat.

Mohammed al-Ballas, another displaced Rafah homeowner, said without basic necessities – including water and electricity – it would be difficult to return home in Rafah for good.

Pointing at collapsed buildings, piles of rubble, and destroyed roads, he said he would remain in his shelter for now because there wasn’t even space to erect a tent in the ruins of his former neighbourhood.

“Even if you tried to tie up an animal here, it will not live,” he said.

Unicef chief Catherine Russell expressed her relief upon the release of Palestinian children who were among the 90 prisoners released from Israel.

Issuing a statement, she said: “Unicef welcomes the release of 9 Palestinian children who were reunited with their families overnight in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, after being held in detention for over a year.”

Earlier on Monday, as the Gaza ceasefire took effect, 90 Palestinians were released from Israeli jails in exchange for three hostages held by Hamas.

Residents of Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank say Israeli settlers have rampaged through their communities and set a large fire.

Officials in Jinsafut and Al-Funduq, two villages roughly 50km north of Jerusalem, said that dozens of settlers had attacked homes and local businesses.

Jalal Bashir, the head of Jinsafut’s village council, said that settlers had burned three houses, a nursery and a carpentry shop located on the village’s main road. Northward in Al-Funduq, Louay Tayem, head of the local council, said dozens of Israeli settlers had fired shots, thrown stones at homes and burned cars, homes and shops.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said it treated 12 people who were beaten by settlers. It gave no details on their conditions. Israel’s military said it dispersed the settlers and launched an investigation.

The West Bank has seen a surge in settler rioting and violence since 7 October 2023. Rights groups say that arrests for settler violence are rare, and prosecutions even rarer.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported 1,432 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians that resulted in casualties or property damage in 2024 and additional attacks in and near Nablus last week.

Gaza has received a major influx of aid and goods, with 915 trucks crossing into the territory on the second day of the ceasefire, the United Nations said.

UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said colleagues in Gaza informed the UN that 915 trucks – significantly higher than the 600 trucks called for in the ceasefire – entered Gaza on Monday, based on information from Israeli authorities and the guarantors of the ceasefire agreement.

UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said on Sunday the needs in Gaza are staggering and his office said Monday that aid workers are ramping up the delivery of food, clean water, shelter materials and other essential supplies.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that the more than two million people in Gaza, about half of them children, depend on this aid, said Mr Haq.

The World Health Organisation, meanwhile, has a 60-day plan to increase beds and deploy overseas health workers to Gaza hospitals, but some 30,000 Palestinians have life-changing injuries and need specialized care, he said.

Donald Trump said Hamas was weakened, but that he was not certain that the temporary truce between Israel and Hamas would hold.

“I’m not confident,” Mr Trump told reporters. “That’s not our war. It’s their war.”

He said that his administration “might” help rebuild Gaza, which he compared to a “massive demolition site”.

“Some beautiful things could be done with it,” said Mr Trump, the real estate developer turned commander-in-chief, noting the territory’s coastline and “phenomenal” weather and location.

“Some fantastic things could be done with Gaza. Some beautiful things could be done with Gaza.”

Among other Biden-era executive orders that President Donald Trump rescinded on Monday is one that authorises sanctions on people who undermine peace in the occupied West Bank.

The Biden administration used the executive order to impose a handful of sanctions on extremist settlers accused of using violence against Palestinians who live in the West Bank after Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel.

Settlers in the territory have celebrated the incoming Trump administration, believing it will take a more favourable approach to illegal settlements.

During his first term, Mr Trump took unprecedented steps to support Israel’s territorial claims, including recognising Jerusalem as its capital and moving the US Embassy there, and recognising Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights.