Public holiday in Gaza to mark truce deal

Gaza city, Palestinian Territories: Gaza streets, empty and quiet during a week of violence, were once again flooded with cars and people on Thursday as life returned to normal after a truce between Hamas and Israel.

The contrast between the deserted roads of the previous eight days and the scenes of joyful chaos on Gaza City's thoroughfares on Thursday was almost comical.

"Move it people! Go, go, go!" one frustrated Hamas policeman shouted in a futile attempt to diffuse a traffic jam, through which a coffee vendor weaved.

The clogged streets would have been unthinkable 24 hours earlier, when Israeli air strikes were falling from the sky and Palestinian rockets being launched into it.

His voice was barely audible over the sounds of honking cars and a nearby celebration organised by the armed wing of the Fatah movement, the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

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Participants waved the yellow flags of the former and the red flags of the latter underneath buildings as residents looked out. The mood was palpably joyful, with strangers greeting each other with handshakes and smiles.

Hamas was expected to hold its own mass celebrations later in the day, with Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya scheduled to make a statement at 1200 GMT.

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After days and nights cooped up at home, residents were eager to reclaim their hometowns and their lives.

Many stopped by newspaper vendors to pick up a daily or ate breakfast at one of the falafel stands dotting the city. As they traversed the city, they stopped at sites bombed by Israel during the eight-day violence, taking pictures with mobile phones.

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Shop owners began to reopen, some for the first time since the violence began on November 14 with Israel's targeted killing of a senior Hamas military commander.

Electrical workers and glaziers were out in force, repairing the power lines and windows damaged by the fighting.
Some owners swept the pavements in front of their shops, as locals queued in front of cash machines, withdrawing money now that places were open for business again.

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"The situation is very good today, we've returned back to work as normal," said 40-year-old Hani Hamadeh, a vegetable seller at Gaza's central market.

"There are lots of customers today, people are going out for the first time after eight days of war and doing their shopping."

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Late on Wednesday, the ruling Hamas government announced that Thursday would be a public holiday, although in places mourning tents were set up and the last funerals for those killed in the violence were still ongoing.

"The Palestinian government announces that Thursday, November 22 is a national holiday of victory and an official holiday," it said in a statement.

It "invites all citizens to celebrate this occasion and visit the families of the martyrs and the wounded and those affected by the violence and to affirm national solidarity".

Government schools were expected to reopen on Saturday, ending a week without studies for Gaza's children who have struggled to cope with the trauma of war and the boredom of being stuck indoors.