Israeli army withdrawal lays bare massive destruction of Gaza City

The Israeli army's withdrawal from parts of Gaza City has revealed the huge level of destruction to residential areas, after two years of relentless assault on the Palestinian enclave.

The Sheikh Radwan and Karameh neighbourhoods in eastern Gaza City, Al-Jala Street, and central areas of the city, where the Israeli army was stationed, have been utterly devastated by the Israeli assault.

Palestinians returning to their homes told The New Arab's Arabic-language sister edition Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that dozens of homes were dynamited as troops left, while houses situated far from the targeted areas were also rendered uninhabitable due the force of the explosions.

On Thursday night, the Israeli army had redeployed to new areas in accordance with the first phase of US President Donald Trump's plan to and the Gaza war, and agreed to by Hamas and Israel under Egyptian and Qatari sponsorship, and with Turkish intervention.

Implementation is expected within the next 72 hours. According to phase one of the plan, Israel will withdraw its forces to an agreed point - the "yellow line" - within 24 hours. Within three days of the withdrawal, the exchange of Israeli captives, both live and dead, and agreed Palestinian captives will be implemented.

According to the plan, in phase one, Israel will retain control over 58 percent of the Gaza Strip, including Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip, parts of Shujaiya, Al-Tuffah and Al-Zeitoun neighbourhoods in Gaza City.

In the south, more than half of Khan Younis and the whole of Rafah city will continue to be occupied, with Israel retaining control of all the crossings into Gaza.

On Thursday, Trump announced that the Israeli captives in the Gaza Strip should be released on Monday or Tuesday. He also announced plans to attend a ceremony in Egypt to sign an agreement for a ceasefire in Gaza.

He stressed that "no one will be forced to leave Gaza", despite Israeli ministers calling for the ethnic cleansing of the enclave.

This is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.