Gaza residents crowd banks, vegetable markets and shops, taking advantage of a brief ceasefire that offered the first respite from 10 days of fierce fighting between Hamas and Israel, a truce that ended at 3 p.m. today.
The truce is briefly thrown into doubt when Hamas fires three mortar shells toward Israel after the truce takes effect at 10 a.m., but it appears to be an isolated incident and Israel does not respond.
Palestinians gather to withdraw money from ATM machines in Gaza City, Thursday, July 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
Gaza City, a virtual ghost town for the past 10 days, returns to apparent normalcy within minutes of the start of the truce. Streets are jammed, motorists honk horns and Hamas police direct traffic at busy intersections.
Crowds of hundreds form outside banks, with people jostling and shouting to get to ATM machines. In an outdoor market, shoppers fill plastic bags with fruit, vegetables and freshly slaughtered chickens.
A Palestinian municipality worker sweeps the streets from glass, as a United Nations vehicle drives past a damaged money exchange post, following an overnight Israeli missile strike in Gaza City, Thursday, July 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
The rush to restock signals that Gaza residents don’t expect a quick end to the fighting. Egypt renews its own ceasefire efforts after its initial attempt collapsed earlier in the week, but the demands of Israel and Hamas remain far apart.
“The situation is likely to get worse because there is no clear way out of it,” says Moussa Amran, 43, a money changer in central Gaza City.
— AP
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