PIEN HUANG, HOST:
A fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is holding. There's been a surge aid into Gaza this past week, and people there are slowly returning to demolished cities that Israeli troops have withdrawn from. The deal has also secured the release of some Israelis taken hostage by Hamas and Palestinians held by Israel. With more on all this, we're joined now by NPR correspondent Aya Batrawy in Dubai. Aya, welcome to the show.
AYA BATRAWY, BYLINE: Thank you.
HUANG: So one of the most complex parts of the ceasefire are the prisoner exchanges happening. Tell us about the swap that happened yesterday.
BATRAWY: Yes, these are really complex. So in total, seven Israeli women have been released from captivity in Gaza since this deal was struck a week ago, and four of them were released yesterday. These are four female soldiers taken hostage to Gaza in the October 7 attack on Israel nearly 16 months ago. Here's the sound of one of the young women, Liri Albag's, emotional reunion with her parents in Israel yesterday.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Liri, (non-English language spoken).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Screaming).
BATRAWY: Now, on the Palestinian side, around 300 people in total have been freed by Israel. These are among thousands held in Israeli prisons. About a third of these have been women and some boys under the age of 18 held without charge. But yesterday saw the release of Palestinian men serving long sentences, some of them for crimes of murder and attacks on Israelis. Now, dozens were released into exile, so not into Palestinian territories. But NPR's producer in Gaza, Anas Baba, captured chants in support of Hamas' military wing, Izz ad-Din, as a few of the prisoners arrived in Gaza for their release.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Chanting in non-English language).
HUANG: Aya, let's stay in Gaza. What can you tell us about what this past week has been like for Palestinians there?
BATRAWY: I mean, people are absolutely exhausted after 16 months of war and tens of thousands of people killed - most of the women and children according to Gaza's health ministry. And the figures now starting to come out of Gaza are staggering. The U.N. says there are around 35,000 children who have had one or both parents killed in this war and that at least 20% of the population of Gaza now have permanent disabilities, with thousands of children having lost one or both legs in Israeli bombardment. And even with this grim reality, there's still a sense of relief across Gaza that the war, that Israeli airstrikes, have stopped since the ceasefire came in effect a week ago.
And part of this deal means that much more aid now is flowing into Gaza. In just the first three days of the ceasefire, more food aid entered Gaza than the entire month of October, according to the U.N. humanitarian relief agency. But another thing that happened was some people were finally able to return to their cities and assess the damage to their homes. But what most of them found was rubble and destruction - hospitals, schools, roads, everything charred, unrecognizable from Israeli airstrikes and bulldozers throughout the war.
HUANG: That brings me to something President Trump told reporters yesterday. He called the Gaza Strip a real mess and a demolition site, and he said he wants Jordan and Egypt to take in Palestinians from the territory. But we know that they and other Arab states are opposed to displacement. So How are Trump's comments being received in Gaza?
BATRAWY: Yeah, and he also said this displacement could be temporary or long-term. He said, quote, "we just clean out the whole thing." But he said this as tens of thousands of people in Gaza are waiting in the cold since last night, with their few belongings, for Israel to approve for them to move from central and southern Gaza, where they've been displaced for the whole war, back to Gaza City and areas of the north. Now, NPR producer, again, Anas Baba, he saw babies bundled up, elderly people sleeping on the road, expecting, just hoping to be able to return today, even if they don't have homes to go back to. Taghreed Abu-Aqleyn, a 46-year-old mother, was among the large crowds waiting to return with her daughters.
TAGHREED ABU-AQLEYN: (Speaking Arabic).
BATRAWY: She said, "we will return to Gaza City, no matter what." And while she says returning to her city will feel like a win, she says this is not a victory. "Too many innocent people, too many children," she says, "have gone, have been killed, to call this a victory."
HUANG: That's NPR's Aya Batrawy. Aya, thank you.
BATRAWY: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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