On a Friday at midday in Gaza, a ceasefire brokered by the United States between Israel and Hamas came into force, and the Israeli military said its troops were taking up positions along newly agreed lines. Across the territory, families who had been driven from their homes two years earlier began to walk back toward places that, by the reports so far, now lie in ruin. The truce is meant to open a path to the release of Israeli hostages within seventy-two hours, yet the prime minister has made clear that Israeli forces will stay in Gaza until Hamas disarms, so the peace rests on a condition st
Palestinian families return to ruined Gaza homes as ceasefire takes effect ahead of hostage release
Palestinian families displaced for two years are returning to homes that have been destroyed, while hostages await expected release.
On a Friday at midday in Gaza, a ceasefire brokered by the United States between Israel and Hamas came into force, and the Israeli military said its troops were taking up positions along newly agreed lines. Across the territory, families who had been driven from their homes two years earlier began to walk back toward places that, by the reports so far, now lie in ruin. The truce is meant to open a path to the release of Israeli hostages within seventy-two hours, yet the prime minister has made clear that Israeli forces will stay in Gaza until Hamas disarms, so the peace rests on a condition still unresolved.
At midday Friday, Gaza time, the Israel Defence Forces announced that a ceasefire had come into force, part of a peace deal brokered by the United States between Israel and Hamas. In Australia it was already evening. Within hours, Palestinian families who had been displaced for two years began making their way back toward their homes, places that, by the early accounts, have been destroyed.
The immediate purpose of the deal is to free Israeli hostages, whom the IDF says could be released within the next 72 hours. The military said its troops had begun moving along agreed "updated deployment lines," the areas Israel committed to withdraw to, and it links that pullback directly to the expected releases.
The ceasefire does not mean Israel is leaving Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israeli forces will stay to pressure Hamas until it disarms, a condition that could decide whether the truce survives. For now, troops are shifting into position while families walk back into ruins, and the hostages wait on the clock.
At midday local time on Friday, the Israel Defence Forces announced that a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip had come into force. In Australia it was 8pm AEDT. Within hours, Palestinian families who had been displaced for the past two years began making their way back to homes that, by the account of the reporting, have been destroyed.
The ceasefire is part of a US-brokered peace deal struck between Israel and Hamas. Its immediate purpose is to open the way for the release of Israeli hostages, which the IDF says can now happen within the next 72 hours. That window is the clock the next few days will run on.
The military described the first practical step of the arrangement. Israeli troops, it said, had begun positioning themselves along what it called "updated deployment lines." These are the areas Israel agreed to withdraw to under the terms of the deal with Hamas. The pullback is what the IDF links directly to the hostages' expected release.
The people returning are families who have been displaced since the conflict between Israel and Hamas escalated two years ago. The source describes them as going back to ruins rather than to houses they left. The reporting at this stage is brief and does not give figures for how many people have started the journey, where they are heading, or what condition individual neighbourhoods are in. What it does establish is the direction of movement: back toward homes that no longer stand as they did.
The ceasefire does not mean Israeli forces are leaving Gaza entirely. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces will remain in the territory to keep pressure on Hamas until it disarms. That statement sets out a condition that sits alongside the ceasefire from its first hours, and it is one that could bear on whether the truce holds.
So the day carries two simultaneous movements. Troops are shifting to agreed positions, and civilians are walking back into places that have been wrecked. Meanwhile the hostages, whose release is expected but not yet carried out, wait on the next 72 hours.
The ABC said its team in the Middle East, along with reporters at home, would continue to report developments as they happen. The things to watch are whether the hostages are released within the window the IDF has described, whether the troop positions hold along the updated lines, and how Hamas's disarmament, which Netanyahu has tied to Israel's continued presence, is handled.
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Israeli forces will remain in Gaza to pressure Hamas until it disarms.— Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (paraphrased)
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War & Conflict