Tens of Thousands Return to Ruined Homes in Northern Gaza as Ceasefire Takes Effect

On Friday, a steady stream of Palestinians, almost all of them on foot, packed a coastal road in central Gaza and headed north. A U.S.-brokered ceasefire had just taken effect, and tens of thousands of people were going to see what remained of their homes. Others turned toward different parts of the territory in the south. The scene repeated the emotional return that followed an earlier ceasefire in January.

The Israeli military confirmed the truce had begun. Palestinians said heavy shelling in parts of Gaza earlier in the day had mostly stopped after that announcement. The remaining 48 hostages, about 20 of them believed to be alive, are to be released by Monday. Two Egyptian officials briefed on the talks and a Hamas official said the releases should begin Monday, though another official said they could come as early as Sunday night. All of them spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss the negotiations publicly.

What the returning families will find is likely to be worse than in January. In recent weeks Israel waged a new offensive in Gaza City, bombing high-rises and blowing up homes in what the military said was an effort to destroy Hamas's remaining military infrastructure. In Khan Younis, in the south, hundreds of people went back after Israeli troops withdrew and found wrecked buildings and rubble. Fatma Radwan, displaced from Khan Younis, said nothing was left but a few clothes, pieces of wood and pots, and that people were still trying to pull bodies from the debris. Hani Omran, also from Khan Younis, described arriving at a place he could not identify, with destruction everywhere. Jamal Mesbah, who was displaced from the north and plans to return, said there was little joy, but that the ceasefire eased some of the pain of the dead and the bloodshed.

The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. In the Israeli offensive since, more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 170,000 wounded, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The ministry does not separate civilians from combatants but says around half the dead were women and children. It is part of the Hamas-run government, though the United Nations and many independent experts consider its figures the most reliable estimate available. Around 90% of Gaza's roughly 2 million people have been displaced, often several times.

Aid is meant to follow quickly. A U.N. official, speaking anonymously, said Israel has cleared the organization to begin scaled-up deliveries Sunday. The shipments include 170,000 metric tons already positioned in countries such as Jordan and Egypt. U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said fuel, medical supplies and other critical materials had begun moving through the Kerem Shalom crossing, and the U.N. wants more crossings opened and safe passage for aid workers and returning civilians. U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said that in recent months the U.N. and its partners managed to deliver only 20% of the aid needed. The International Criminal Court is seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense minister over alleged use of starvation as a method of war, which Israeli officials deny.

In exchange for the hostages, Israel is to free about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official and its lead negotiator, said all women and children held in Israeli jails will be released. The list Israel published Friday did not include Marwan Barghouti, regarded as the most popular Palestinian leader and a possible unifying figure. Israel considers him a terrorist and has refused to free him in past exchanges.

For Israeli families, hope is cautious. Stephen Brisley, speaking from South Wales, lost his sister Lianne Sharabi and her two teenage daughters in the Oct. 7 attack. Her husband, Eli Sharabi, was later released, but Eli's brother Yossi is believed to have died in an airstrike in January 2024. The family hopes to bury him with dignity. Brisley said they hold their hope lightly because it has been dashed before.

The larger questions are unsettled. Under President Trump's plan, Israel keeps an open-ended military presence along Gaza's border, an international force drawn largely from Arab and Muslim countries handles security inside, and the U.S. leads an internationally funded reconstruction. The plan envisions a role for the Palestinian Authority, which Netanyahu has long opposed, but only after reforms that could take years. Israel still controls roughly 50% of Gaza and says it will operate defensively there. Netanyahu, who unilaterally ended a ceasefire in March, said Hamas must disarm and Gaza be demilitarized, the easy way or the hard way. The first test is whether the exchanges begin on schedule early next week.