(1 May 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rafah, Gaza Strip – 1 May 2024
1. People walking in the street near tents
2. Hundreds of tents being used by displaced people
3. Mahmoud Ghaben, man displaced from Gaza City:
"This time I hope that the negotiations will succeed. This time I am optimistic. God willing, the negotiations (over a deal) will succeed and we will return to our homes, and the war will end and there will be no military operation in Rafah.”
4. Various of tents that people use as shelter
5. People walking
6. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Enas Syam, displaced from Gaza city:
++SOUNDBITE PARTLY COVERED WITH IMAGE IN SHOT 7++
"We are afraid at any moment that there will be an invasion of Rafah, and even if the invasion happens we do not know where to go. There is no safe place left. I have a child and I do not know where to take him and run.”
7. Displaced people gathering by truck to fill up on water
8. Tents
STORYLINE:
Palestinians in southern Gaza expressed cautious optimism on Wednesday a cease-fire deal would be reached between Israel and Hamas in the latest round of talks.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli leaders on Wednesday in his push for a cease-fire deal, saying "the time is now" for an agreement that would free hostages and bring a pause in the nearly seven months of war in Gaza.
The current round of talks appears to be serious, but the sides remain far apart on one key issue — whether the war should end as part of an emerging deal.
Displaced people in the city of Rafah said they wanted an end to the suffering and hardship caused by the ongoing Israeli offensive in the territory.
Mahmoud Ghaben, a displaced resident from Gaza City, said he was previously never optimistic about negotiations, but is hopeful this time.
"God willing, the negotiations (over a deal) will succeed and we will return to our homes, and the war will end and there will be no military operation in Rafah," he said.
A one week cease-fire in Gaza during November saw over 100 Israeli hostages, captured by Hamas during the militant’s attack on southern Israel on October 7 which triggered the war, walk free in exchange for the release of a larger number of Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas’ October 7 attack killed around 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and saw around 250 hostages taken.
Israel says militants still hold around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.
The Israel-Hamas war has flattened huge swaths of Gaza’s north, and famine is imminent for the hundreds of thousands of civilians who remain there.
Nearly seven months of Israeli bombardment and ground offensives in Gaza have killed more than 34,500 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and sparked a humanitarian catastrophe.
AP video shot by Mohammad Jahjouh
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