As Israel pulls back under ceasefire, Gazans return to wrecked homes

Thousands of displaced Palestinians streamed back towards their abandoned homes on Friday after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect and Israeli troops began pulling back from parts of Gaza.

A massive column of displaced Gazans filed north through the dust towards Gaza City, the enclave's biggest urban area, which had been under attack just days ago in one of Israel's biggest offensives of the war.

"Thank God my house is still standing," said Ismail Zayda, 40, in the Sheikh Radwan area in Gaza City. "But the place is destroyed, my neighbors' houses are destroyed, entire districts have gone."

The Israeli military said the ceasefire agreement had been activated at noon local time (0900 GMT), with the timing of the withdrawal later confirmed by U.S. Central Command via special enjoy Steve Witkoff. 

Israel's government had ratified the ceasefire with Hamas in the early hours of Friday, clearing the way to partially pull back troops and fully suspend hostilities in Gaza within 24 hours.

With that completed, Israeli hostages are to be freed within 72 hours in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

The first phase of the ceasefire initiative calls for Israeli forces to withdraw from some of Gaza's major urban areas, though they will still control roughly half of the enclave's territory.

Once the agreement is operating, trucks carrying food and medical aid will surge into Gaza to help civilians, hundreds of thousands of whom have been sheltering in tents after Israeli forces destroyed their homes and razed entire cities to dust.

Israeli forces pull out of positions in Gaza 

"The government has just now approved the framework for the release of all of the hostages – the living and the deceased," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's English-language X account said.

In Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, some Israeli troops pulled back from the eastern area near the border, although some residents reported tank shelling.

In Nusseirat camp in the center of the enclave, some Israeli soldiers dismantled their position and headed east towards the border, but other troops remained in the area after gunfire was heard in the early hours of Friday.

Israeli forces pulled out from the road along the Mediterranean coast into Gaza City, where hundreds of people had gathered hoping to return to the enclave's main urban center which has been under Israeli assault for the past month.

Gunfire nearby made many reluctant to move, and only a few were attempting to cross on foot, residents said. Rescue workers in Gaza City began missions in areas they had been unable to reach before. Medics said at least 10 bodies were recovered from previous strikes.

"As soon as we heard the news of the truce and ceasefire, we were very happy and got ready to go back to Gaza City, to our homes. Of course there are no homes – they've been destroyed," said Mahdi Saqla.

"But we are happy just to return to where our homes were, even over the rubble. That too is a great joy. For two years we've been suffering, displaced from place to place."

Israelis and Palestinians alike rejoiced after the deal was announced, the biggest step yet to end two years of war in which over 67,000 Palestinians have been killed, and return the last hostages seized by Hamas in the deadly attacks that provoked it.

The exiled Gaza chief of Hamas, Khalil Al-Hayya, said he had received guarantees from the United States and other mediators that the war was over.

Twenty Israeli hostages are still believed to be alive in Gaza, while 26 are presumed dead and the fate of two is unknown. Hamas has indicated that recovering the bodies of the dead may take longer than releasing those who are alive.

Hurdles remain

The accord, if fully implemented, would bring the two sides closer than any previous effort to halt the war.

Much could still go wrong. The sides have yet to publish the list of Palestinian prisoners to be released in exchange for Israeli hostages. Hamas is seeking freedom for some of the most prominent Palestinian convicts held in Israeli jails, as well as hundreds of people detained during Israel's assault.

Further steps in the 20-point peace plan have yet to be agreed. Those include how the demolished Gaza Strip is to be ruled when the fighting ends, and the ultimate fate of Hamas, which has so far rejected Israel's demands to disarm.

The Hamas-run interior ministry said on Friday it would deploy security forces in areas where the Israeli army withdrew. It was not immediately clear whether fighters would return to the streets in significant numbers as they did during earlier ceasefires, a move that would be viewed by Israel as a provocation.

Netanyahu also faces skepticism from within his governing coalition, as many have long opposed any deal with Hamas.