Families take long walk into uncertainty as Gaza 'peace plan' begins

Netanyahu also threatened a return to violence. “Hamas agreed to the deal only when it felt the sword resting on its neck and it is still on its neck ... Hamas will be disarmed and Gaza will be demilitarised ... If this is achieved the easy way, so much the better. And if not, it will be achieved the hard way,” he said.

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Officials say Israeli forces will remain in control of 53% of Gaza in the initial withdrawal phase before the hostages are released, and Israeli bombing in Gaza had intensified yesterday until the ceasefire began. However, troops were seen pulling back from areas such as the eastern part of Khan Younis, southern Gaza, and the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza.

With the announcement that a ceasefire had begun, thousands of Palestinians began heading north towards Gaza City, the territory's biggest urban area, mostly on foot. Nearly half a million people living in north Gaza were displaced by Israel's military advance into Gaza City.

Footage showed huge crowds on the coastal road, which had been cut off for returnees just days before. “On the road, I saw someone returning. When he saw his house still standing from a distance, he began to run and shout with joy,” Asmaa Zuheir told the Guardian. “At that moment, I felt pain because I was returning to my area knowing my house was completely destroyed.”

In the south of Gaza, thousands left the crowded coastal strip of al-Muwasi to travel inland to the partially ruined city of Khan Younis. Ahmed al-Brim pushed a bicycle loaded with wood through rows of buildings crumpled by bombardment. “We went to our area - it was exterminated,” he said. “We don’t know where we will go after that.”

Another Khan Younis resident, Muhannad al-Shawaf, said it used to take him three minutes to reach a nearby street from his house. Now it took more than an hour. “The destruction is huge and indescribable,” he said. “It is almost all in ruins and not suitable for living in.”