Displaced Gazans return to ruined homes as ceasefire takes effect

JERUSALEM/CAIRO — Thousands of displaced Palestinians made their way back to the devastated landscapes of Gaza on Friday after a ceasefire took effect and Israeli forces began withdrawing under the first phase of a U.S.-brokered agreement aimed at ending two years of war.

Long lines of men, women, and children walked north along Gaza’s coastal highway toward Gaza City, the enclave’s largest urban area, recently struck by one of Israel’s most intense offensives.

“Thank God my house is still standing,” said 40-year-old Ismail Zayda in the Sheikh Radwan district. “But the place is destroyed, my neighbours’ houses are destroyed, entire districts have gone.”

In Khan Younis, Gaza’s second-largest city, residents moved silently through what was once a bustling city, now reduced to rubble. Ahmed al-Brim, pushing a bicycle loaded with scrap wood, said his family would use the timber for cooking. “We went to our area. It was exterminated. We don’t know where we will go after that,” he said. “We couldn’t get the furniture, or clothes, or anything, not even winter clothes. Nothing is left.”

Palestinian health authorities reported that medical teams had recovered 100 bodies from across the Gaza Strip after Israeli forces pulled back.

The ceasefire marks the first step of a deal between Israel and Hamas, with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration touting it as part of a broader 20-point plan to bring lasting peace to the region. Speaking from the White House, Trump expressed optimism, saying: “They’re all tired of the fighting.” He added that a “consensus” existed on the next steps, though “some details would still have to be worked out.”

The Israeli military confirmed the ceasefire took effect at noon local time (0900 GMT). Under the first phase, Israeli troops are required to withdraw from urban areas within 24 hours but will maintain control over more than half of Gaza.

Israel’s government ratified the agreement early Friday. Hamas now has 72 hours to release 20 Israeli hostages still believed to be alive. Trump said the hostages are expected to “come back” on Monday. In exchange, Israel will release 250 Palestinians serving long sentences and 1,700 detainees captured during the war. Hundreds of aid trucks carrying food and medical supplies are expected to enter Gaza daily.

As part of the next phase, Trump’s plan envisions the creation of an international “Board of Peace” to oversee Gaza’s post-war governance, with Trump himself expected to lead it alongside former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. However, Hamas rejected this element of the plan, saying it opposed any “foreign guardianship” and insisted that “governance of Gaza is purely an internal Palestinian matter.”

In a televised address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said forces would remain in parts of Gaza to ensure Hamas was disarmed. “If this is achieved the easy way, then that will be good, and if not, then it will be achieved the hard way,” he said.

The U.S. president is set to visit the Middle East in the coming days, with planned stops in Israel and Egypt. Trump is expected to address the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, in the first such speech by a U.S. president since 2008. Reports also indicate he will host an international summit on Gaza while in Cairo.

As Israeli troops loosened their positions, the flow of returning Palestinians grew from a trickle to a flood. “Of course there are no homes—they’ve been destroyed,” said 40-year-old Mahdi Saqla, walking toward Gaza City with his family. “But we are happy just to return to where our homes were, even over the rubble. That too is a great joy. For two years, we’ve been suffering, displaced from place to place.”

The war, which erupted after Hamas fighters attacked Israeli communities and a music festival on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, has left more than 67,000 Palestinians dead, according to Gaza’s health authorities.

The ceasefire agreement, if fully implemented, would mark the closest both sides have come to ending the prolonged conflict. Yet many challenges remain, including the question of who will govern Gaza and how Hamas will respond to calls for disarmament.

The Hamas-run interior ministry said it would deploy security forces in areas vacated by Israeli troops, though it remained unclear whether armed militants would also return, a move Israel would likely consider a provocation.

Brigadier General Effie Defrin, an Israeli military spokesperson, urged residents to “keep to the agreement and ensure your safety.”

The exiled Hamas leader Khalil Al-Hayya said he had received “guarantees from the United States and other mediators that the war was over.”

For now, weary Gazans continue to return to what remains of their homes, hopeful that this fragile ceasefire might finally mark the beginning of peace after years of devastation.