Thousands of displaced Palestinians returned to their abandoned homes on Friday after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into force and Israeli troops began withdrawing from parts of Gaza.
A huge column of Gazans headed north, through the dust, towards Gaza City, the largest urban area in the enclave, which had been attacked a few days ago in one of Israel’s biggest offensives of the war.
“Thank God, my house is still standing,” said Ismail Zayda, 40, in the Sheikh Radwan area of Gaza City. “But the place is destroyed, my neighbors’ houses are destroyed, entire neighborhoods are destroyed.”
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The Israeli military said the ceasefire agreement was activated at noon (6 a.m. Brasília time). The Israeli government ratified the ceasefire with Hamas in the early hours of Friday, paving the way for the partial withdrawal of troops and the total suspension of hostilities in Gaza within 24 hours.
Hamas is expected to release the 20 Israeli hostages alive within 72 hours, after which Israel will release 250 Palestinians serving long sentences in Israeli prisons, as well as 1,700 others detained in Gaza during the war.
While the agreement is in force, trucks with food and medical aid will enter Gaza to help civilians, hundreds of thousands of whom are sheltering in tents after Israeli forces destroyed their homes and leveled entire cities.
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The first phase of US President Donald Trump’s push to end the two-year war in Gaza requires Israeli forces to withdraw from some of Gaza’s main urban areas, although they still control about half of the enclave’s territory.
In a televised speech, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces would remain in Gaza to ensure the territory is demilitarized and Hamas disarmed in future stages of Trump’s plan: “If it is achieved the easy way, then it will be good, and if it is not, then it will be achieved the hard way.”
Israeli forces leave positions
In Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, some Israeli soldiers retreated from the eastern region near the border, but tank shelling was heard, according to residents in contact with Reuters.
At the Nusseirat camp in the center of the enclave, some Israeli soldiers dismantled their position and headed east toward the Israeli border, but other troops remained in the area after gunshots were heard in the early hours of Friday.
Israeli forces withdrew from the road along the Mediterranean coast towards Gaza City.
“As soon as we heard the news of the truce and the ceasefire, we were very happy and prepared to go back to Gaza City, to our homes. Of course there are no homes — they were destroyed,” said 40-year-old Mahdi Saqla.
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“But we are happy just to return to where our homes were, even in rubble. This is also a great joy. We have been suffering for two years, displaced from one place to another.”
Guarantees that the war is over
The war deepened Israel’s international isolation and shook the Middle East, turning into a regional conflict that drew in Iran, Yemen and Lebanon. It has also tested the relationship between the US and Israel, with Trump appearing to lose patience with Netanyahu and pressuring him to reach a deal.
Both Israelis and Palestinians rejoiced at the announcement of the deal, the biggest step yet toward ending two years of war, in which more than 67,000 Palestinians were killed, and returning the last hostages seized by Hamas in the deadly attacks that provoked it.
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The head of Hamas in exile in Gaza, Khalil Al-Hayya, said he had received assurances from the US and other mediators that the war was over.
20 Israeli hostages are believed to still be alive in Gaza, while 26 are believed dead and the fate of two is unknown. Hamas has indicated that recovering the bodies could take longer than releasing those who are alive.
