Thousands Return to Ruined Homes in Northern Gaza as U.S.-Brokered Ceasefire Takes Effect

On Friday, a steady stream of people, nearly all of them on foot, packed the coastal road through central Gaza, heading north to see what was left of their homes. A U.S.-brokered ceasefire had just taken effect, and tens of thousands of Palestinians were on the move. It echoed the scenes from the earlier truce in January, though the destruction waiting for them this time is greater. Others set out for different parts of the territory in the south.

The Israeli military confirmed the ceasefire's start on Friday. Palestinians said heavy shelling in parts of Gaza earlier in the day had mostly stopped after the announcement. Under the deal, the remaining 48 hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, about 20 of whom are believed to be alive, are to be released by Monday. Two Egyptian officials briefed on the talks and a Hamas official said the hostage and prisoner releases should begin Monday, though another official said they could come as early as Sunday night.

In exchange, Israel is set to release around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. 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. Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official and lead negotiator, said Thursday evening that all women and children held in Israeli jails will be freed.

What people are returning to is stark. The war, which began when Hamas-led fighters stormed into Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage, has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians and wounded nearly 170,000, 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. Around 90% of Gaza's roughly 2 million people have been displaced, often several times. In recent weeks Israel waged a new offensive in Gaza City, bombing high-rises and blowing up homes in what it said was an effort to destroy Hamas' remaining military infrastructure.

In Khan Younis, in the south, hundreds of people went back after Israeli troops withdrew and found wrecked buildings and rubble. "There was nothing left. Just a few clothes, pieces of wood and pots," said Fatma Radwan, who added that people were still trying to pull bodies from the debris. Hani Omran described arriving at "a place that is unidentifiable." Jamal Mesbah, displaced from the north and planning to return, said there was not much joy, but the ceasefire eased somewhat the pain of death and bloodshed.

Aid is meant to follow quickly. A U.N. official, speaking anonymously because the details were not yet public, said Israel has approved scaled-up deliveries starting Sunday, including 170,000 metric tons already staged in countries such as Jordan and Egypt. U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said fuel and medical supplies have begun moving through the Kareem 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; Israeli officials deny it.

The political questions are far from settled. Israel still controls roughly 50% of Gaza and says it will operate defensively there after pulling back to agreed lines. Netanyahu, who unilaterally ended a ceasefire in March, said Hamas must disarm and Gaza be demilitarized: "If this is achieved the easy way — so be it. If not — it will be achieved the hard way." President Trump's plan envisions an open-ended Israeli presence along the border, an international force largely from Arab and Muslim countries handling security inside Gaza, and a U.S.-led, internationally funded reconstruction. It foresees an eventual role for the Palestinian Authority, which Netanyahu has long opposed, but only after sweeping reforms that could take years, and it is vaguer still on a Palestinian state, which Netanyahu rejects.

For hostage families, hope is cautious. Stephen Brisley, whose sister Lianne Sharabi and her two teenage daughters were killed on Oct. 7, said from South Wales that families hold their hope lightly because it has been dashed before. Lianne's husband Eli was released, but his brother Yossi is believed to have died in an airstrike in January 2024, and the family hopes to bury him. The next markers are Sunday's aid deliveries, Monday's expected releases, and whether Hamas gives up its weapons.