Gazans stream back home as Israel-Hamas ceasefire holds

Gaza/Tel Aviv: Thousands of Palestinians streamed north along the coast of Gaza on Saturday, trekking by foot, car, and cart back to their abandoned homes as a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas appeared to be holding. Israeli troops pulled back under the first phase of a U.S.-brokered agreement reached this week to end the war, which has killed tens of thousands of people and left much of the enclave in ruins.

"It is an indescribable feeling; praise be to God," said Nabila Basal as she travelled by foot with her daughter, who she said had suffered a head wound in the war. "We are very, very happy that the war has stopped, and the suffering has ended."

Homes in ruins

For others, the journey back through Gaza's wasteland led to homes reduced to rubble.

"My house, which I built 40 years ago, was gone in a moment," said Ahmed al-Jabari, as he stood in the wreckage of a Gaza City street. "I’m happy that there is no blood, no killing (but) where will we go? Will we live 20 years in a tent?"

In Israel, as dark fell, tens of thousands of people gathered in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv that was filled with joyous cheers, after two years of protests dominated by anger and heartbreak.

U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and daughter Ivanka Trump took the stage with U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who played a key role in ceasefire negotiations since Trump took office.

"I dreamed of this night. It's been a long journey," Witkoff said. Some yelled, "Thank you, Trump, thank you Witkoff," and booed when the envoy mentioned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Turning to the hostages, Witkoff said: "As you return to the embrace of your families and your nation, know that all of Israel and the entire world stands ready to welcome you home with open arms and endless love."

Countdown to hostages release

Once the Israeli forces completed their redeployment on Friday, which keeps them out of major urban areas but still in control of roughly half the enclave, the clock began ticking for Hamas to release its hostages within 72 hours, by Monday noon.

"We are very excited, waiting for our son and for all the 48 hostages," said Hagai Angrest, whose son Matan is among the 20 Israeli hostages believed to still be alive. "We are waiting for the phone call."

Twenty-six hostages have been declared dead in absentia and the fate of two more is unknown. According to the agreement, after the hostages are freed, Israel will release almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, many of them captured during the war.

Hundreds of trucks per day are expected to surge into Gaza carrying food and medical aid.

UNICEF spokesperson Tess Ingram said on Saturday the United Nations' children's agency expects to significantly scale up supplies of high-energy food for malnourished children, menstrual hygiene supplies, and tents, starting on Sunday.

Witkoff, Kushner, and the US military's Central Command Admiral Brad Cooper accompanied Israel's military chief Eyal Zamir in Gaza, the military said in a statement. Cooper said in a statement that his visit was part of the establishment of a task force that would support stabilisation efforts in Gaza, though US troops would not be deployed inside the enclave.

Trump expected to travel to Israel and Egypt

But questions remain about whether the ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange deal, the biggest step yet towards ending two years of war, will lead to a lasting peace under Trump's 20-point plan. Further steps in Trump's plan have yet to be agreed upon. These include how the demolished Gaza Strip is to be ruled and the ultimate fate of Hamas, which has rejected Israel's demands it disarm.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump expressed confidence the ceasefire would hold. "They're all tired of the fighting." He said he believed there was a "consensus" on the next steps but acknowledged some details still have to be worked out.

Trump is expected to visit the region on Monday and address the Knesset, Israel's parliament, the first US president to do so since George W. Bush in 2008.

Trump said he would also travel to Egypt and that other world leaders were expected to be present.

Israelis and Palestinians alike rejoiced after the deal was announced to end a war in which more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly civilians, and to return the last hostages seized by Hamas in the deadly attack that provoked it.

During the Hamas attack on Israeli communities, military bases, and a music festival on October 7, 2023, militants killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and captured 251 hostages.