Palestinians displaced to southern Gaza begin journey home as ceasefire comes into effect
Hamas has 72 hours to return hostages
Thousands walk north along coastal road after Israel-Hamas agreement puts stop to fighting for first time in six months.
Under the terms of the plan, Hamas is expected to release the 20 living Israeli hostages within 72 hours, after which Israel will release 250 Palestinians serving long terms in Israeli prisons, as well as 1,700 others detained in Gaza during the war.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, claimed credit for the hostage release, saying in an address on Friday that the “security of Israel” was what dictated his actions in Gaza.
Palestinians displaced by the war head back north to their homes
“I believed that if we applied heavy military pressure, combined with heavy diplomatic pressure, we would absolutely be able to return all of our hostages,” said Netanyahu, who also thanked the US president, Donald Trump, for his support to achieve the deal.
According to an Israeli government spokesperson speaking on Thursday, Israeli forces will remain in control of 53% of Gaza in the initial withdrawal phase before the hostages are released. Israeli troops were seen pulling back from areas such as the eastern part of Khan Younis, southern Gaza, and the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, but troops were still visible in other parts of the strip.
With the announcement that a ceasefire had begun, a massive column of Palestinians began filing north towards Gaza City, the territory’s biggest urban area. Nearly half a million Palestinians living in north Gaza had been displaced by Israel’s military operation in Gaza City, and many of them were eager to return to their homes.
Footage showed huge crowds on the coastal road, which had been cut off for returnees just days prior.
“Thank God my house is still standing,” said 40-year-old Ismail Zayda in the Sheikh Radwan area of Gaza City. “But the place is destroyed, my neighbours’ houses are destroyed, entire districts have gone,” he told Reuters.
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The completion of the withdrawal started a 72-hour countdown, during which Hamas is obligated to release all the living hostages and as many of the dead hostages that it can secure, according to the terms of the deal. That puts the deadline at noon on Monday. Hamas has said it will not be able to locate all the dead hostages in that time, and Israel is aware of this.
The IDF published footage of the pullback. US Envoy Steve Witkoff later said that the US military had confirmed that the IDF had completed its obligations.
Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 472. The toll includes two police officers and three Defense Ministry civilian contractors.
IDF Spokesman Brig Gen. Effie Defrin said the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip was “an emotional moment for the people of Israel and for the IDF troops and soldiers who have fought and acted over the past two years with courage, bravery, and out of a sense of mission and dedication.”
Hamas’s Civil Defense agency also told Gazans not to approach the borders of the enclave until an official announcement is made about an IDF withdrawal. “Violating this warning puts your lives at risk,” the statement said.
Following the announcements, footage from Gaza showed hundreds of people beginning to move along the coastal al-Rashid Road moving back north toward Gaza City, the enclave’s main urban center which has been under Israeli assault for the past month.
The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was announced in the early hours of the morning on Thursday and was ratified by the government later that evening. The hostages — some 20 living, at least 26 thought to be dead — are meant to come home within 72 hours of the completion of an agreed-upon withdrawal of the IDF.
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