Gazans stream back home as truce holds

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.

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Palestinians, who were displaced to the southern part of Gaza at Israel’s order during the war, rush to return to the north, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in the central Gaza Strip on Saturday. — REUTERS

(REUTERS)

Israeli troops pulled back under the first phase of a US-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."

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.