Thousands Return to Ruined Homes in Gaza as Ceasefire Takes Effect, Hostage Releases Set for Monday

On Friday, a steady stream of Palestinians, almost all of them on foot, packed the coastal road in central Gaza and headed north. A U.S.-brokered ceasefire had come into effect, and tens of thousands of people were going back to see what remained of their homes in the northern Gaza Strip. Others headed to different parts of the territory in the south. It echoed scenes from an earlier ceasefire in January.

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

In exchange, Israel is to free around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official and lead negotiator, said Thursday evening that all women and children held in Israeli jails will be released. The list Israel published Friday did not include Marwan Barghouti, the most popular Palestinian leader and a potentially unifying figure. Israel views him and other high-profile prisoners as terrorists and has refused to free them in past exchanges.

The people walking north will find more damage than they would have in January. In recent weeks Israel launched a new offensive in Gaza City, bombing high-rises and blowing up homes in what it said was an effort to destroy Hamas's remaining military infrastructure. In Khan Younis, in the south, hundreds of people returned after Israeli troops withdrew and found wrecked buildings and rubble. Fatma Radwan said there was nothing left but a few clothes, pieces of wood and pots, and that people were still trying to pull bodies from the debris. Hani Omran described an unidentifiable town with destruction everywhere. Jamal Mesbah, displaced from the north and planning to return, said there was not much joy, but that the ceasefire eased somewhat the pain of the bloodshed.

The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage. Israel's offensive has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians and wounded nearly 170,000, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and 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. Around 90% of Gaza's roughly 2 million people have been displaced, often several times.

For hostage families, the hope is cautious. Stephen Brisley, whose sister Lianne Sharabi and her two teenage daughters were killed on Oct. 7, said from South Wales that the family holds its hope lightly because it has been dashed before. Lianne's husband, Eli Sharabi, was eventually released, but his brother Yossi is believed to have died in an airstrike in January 2024. The family hopes to bring his body home for a dignified burial.

Aid is also set to expand. A U.N. official, speaking anonymously, said Israel has approved scaled-up deliveries starting Sunday, including 170,000 metric tons already positioned in countries such as Jordan and Egypt. U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said that in recent months the U.N. and its partners have been able to deliver only 20% of the aid needed. Egyptian and Hamas officials said five border crossings, including Rafah, are expected to reopen. Parts of Gaza are experiencing famine.

The larger questions are unresolved. Israel says it will keep operating defensively from the roughly half of Gaza it still controls after pulling back to agreed lines. President Trump's plan calls for an open-ended Israeli presence along the border, an international force largely from Arab and Muslim countries to handle security inside Gaza, and a U.S.-led, internationally funded reconstruction. It envisions an eventual role for a reformed Palestinian Authority, which Netanyahu has long opposed, and is vague on a Palestinian state, which he firmly rejects. In a televised statement, Netanyahu said Hamas must disarm and Gaza be demilitarized, "the easy way" or "the hard way." He ended a ceasefire unilaterally in March. The next few days of releases will show whether this one holds.