Gazans return to ruins as U.S. troops land in Israel

The Gaza ceasefire held in its second day as tens of thousands of Palestinians returned to their neighborhoods Saturday and Israelis cheered Monday’s expected release of remaining hostages.

- BY ABDEL KAREEM HANA, SAM METZ, SARAH EL DEEB AND SAM MEDNICK

DISPLACED Palestinians walk through a neighborhood wrecked by war in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza.

(Jehad Alshrafi Associated Press)

“Gaza is completely destroyed. I have no idea where we should live or where to go,” said Mahmoud al-Shandoghli as he walked through Gaza City. A boy climbed a shattered building to raise the Palestinian flag.

Israelis applauded President Trump, and some booed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, addressed a weekly rally in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square that many hoped would be the last.

“To the hostages themselves, our brothers and sisters, you are coming home,” Witkoff told the crowd, estimated in the hundreds of thousands.

Kushner said they would celebrate Monday, when Israel’s military has said the 48 hostages still in Gaza would be freed. The government believes around 20 are alive. Kushner also noted the suffering in Gaza.

Israelis hugged and took selfies. Many waved U.S. flags. “It’s a really happy time, but we know that there are going to be some incredibly difficult moments coming,” said one person in the crowd, Yaniv Peretz.

About 200 U.S. troops arrived in Israel to monitor the ceasefire with Hamas. They will set up a center to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid as well as logistical and security assistance. The head of the U.S. military's Central Command said he visited Gaza on Saturday to prepare it.