Palestinians displaced to southern Gaza begin journey home as ceasefire comes into effect | Gaza

Tens of thousands of Palestinians displaced in Gaza began returning to the ruins of their homes after a rapidly negotiated ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in recent days came into force at noon local time on Friday; It was the first relief for devastated residents from brutal violence since March.

Israeli troops withdrew to new agreed-upon positions on Friday morning, and Hamas is expected to release its holdings of 20 live Israeli hostages early next week; Israel will then release 250 Palestinians serving long sentences in Israeli prisons, as well as another 1,700 Palestinians detained during the war.

The prisoners-hostages deal approved by the Israeli cabinet on Thursday night is the first phase of a US-drafted “peace proposal” announced by Donald Trump last week, raising hopes for a permanent end to the two-year conflict even as all parties are aware of the challenges ahead.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the hostage’s release in a speech on Friday, saying “Israel’s security” determined its actions in Gaza.

Thanking Trump for his support, Netanyahu said, “I believed that if we applied heavy military pressure along with heavy diplomatic pressure, we could definitely return all our hostages.” The US president is expected to visit Israel on Monday to address the Knesset in Jerusalem.

Netanyahu also threatened a return to violence. “Hamas agreed to the deal only when it felt that the sword was on its neck and it was still on its neck… Hamas will be disarmed and Gaza will be demilitarized… If this can be achieved the easy way, the better. If not, it will be achieved the hard way,” he said.

During the initial withdrawal phase before the hostages are released, Israeli forces will retain control of 53% of Gaza and Israeli bombardment in Gaza intensifies until a ceasefire begins Friday morning, officials said. However, Israeli troops were seen withdrawing from areas such as the eastern part of Khan Younis, southern Gaza and the Nuseyrat camp in central Gaza.

After the ceasefire was announced, thousands of Palestinians began moving north, mostly on foot, towards Gaza City, the largest urban area in the region. Nearly half a million Palestinians living in northern Gaza were displaced by Israel’s military advance on Gaza City, and many were eager to return home.

Images show large crowds on the coastal road, which was closed a few days ago for returnees.

Asmaa Zuheir said, “I saw someone coming back on the road. When he saw from a distance that his house was still standing, he started running and shouting with joy.” “I felt pain at that moment because I was returning to my area knowing that my house was already completely destroyed.”

In southern Gaza, thousands of people abandoned the crowded coastal strip of Al Mawāsi and headed inland towards the partially devastated city of Khan Younis. Ahmed al-Brim pushed a bicycle loaded with wood through rows of buildings destroyed by shelling and streets littered with rubble. “We went to our area and it was destroyed,” he said. “We don’t know where to go next.”

Another Khan Younis resident, Muhannad al-Shawaf, said it took three minutes to reach a nearby street from his home. It now took more than an hour to move through the piles of debris. “The devastation is immense and indescribable, indescribable,” he said. “Almost all of it is in ruins and uninhabitable.”

The conflict has resulted in the destruction or damage of more than 90% of homes and nearly all infrastructure in Gaza. Almost everyone in the area has been displaced multiple times. Malnutrition is widespread throughout Gaza and there is famine in some areas, according to UN-backed food experts.

The ceasefire is planned to bring increased humanitarian and medical aid to Gaza from Israel through five crossing points, but it is unclear how and when this will happen. Israel will allow 600 aid trucks to enter Gaza every day, Israeli army radio said. Aid organizations say these amounts are grossly inadequate.

Leading international organisations, including Unrwa, the UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees, said they had not yet received details on what role they might play during the ceasefire. Unrwa, who is banned from operating in Israel, called on Israeli authorities to allow 6,000 trucks of aid from Jordan and Egypt to be brought to Gaza, including enough food to feed the population for three months.

“We have not made any progress in moving these supplies to Gaza… and this is absolutely critical to controlling the spread of the famine,” Unrwa spokeswoman Juliette Touma said.

Care International said on Friday that it still had not received permission for its supplies to enter. “We still need clarity on how we can get supplies into Gaza that have been sitting out for months,” said Jolien Veldwijk, Care’s Palestine director.

More than 67,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed during Israeli attacks, and the number is expected to rise. Health workers announced that they would use the ceasefire period to start removing bodies trapped under the rubble. Thousands of bodies are thought to lie under the rubble of collapsed buildings as conflict has made excavation and rescue difficult.

Israel launched the war in response to a Hamas-led offensive on October 7, 2023 that killed nearly 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.

Although there is great relief in Israel and Gaza after the ceasefire, there is also anxiety. Trump’s ambitious 20-point proposal calls for the disarmament of Hamas, further Israeli withdrawal, the establishment of an international stabilization force and a new technocratic Palestinian administration that will answer to Trump.

Few of these have been discussed in detail during the frantic negotiations of recent days, and it will be extremely difficult to get all parties to agree on the thornier issues.

Ending the war in Gaza would be the biggest foreign policy achievement yet for Trump, who took office in January promising to quickly end the conflict there and in Ukraine, and has apparently faced obstacles and complexities he did not foresee.

The war turned into a regional conflict and reshaped the Middle East, drawing in countries such as Iran, Yemen and Lebanon.