Displaced Palestinians journey on vans loaded with belongings and wave Egyptian and Palestinian flags as they journey alongside the coastal street close to Wadi Gaza within the central Gaza Strip, transferring towards Gaza metropolis, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, after Israel and Hamas agreed to a pause of their battle and the discharge of the remaining hostages.
Jehad Alshrafi | AP Photograph
Tens of hundreds of displaced Palestinians returned to their Gaza neighborhoods Saturday, weaving by means of dust-shrouded streets as bulldozers clawed by means of the wreckage of two years of battle and a ceasefire held in its second day.
“Gaza is totally destroyed. I don’t know the place we must always stay or the place to go,” stated Mahmoud al-Shandoghli as he walked by means of Gaza Metropolis. A boy climbed a shattered constructing to lift the Palestinian flag.
About 200 U.S. troops arrived in Israel to observe the ceasefire with Hamas. They may arrange a middle to facilitate the stream of humanitarian help in addition to logistical and safety help. The top of the U.S. navy’s Central Command stated he visited Gaza on Saturday.
“This nice effort might be achieved with no U.S. boots on the bottom in Gaza,” Adm. Brad Cooper stated in a press release.
Israel stated U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner met with senior U.S. and Israeli navy officers in Gaza on Saturday.
Witkoff was set to talk Saturday night as hundreds of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv for a weekly rally that many hoped could be the final. Israel’s navy has stated the 48 hostages nonetheless in Gaza could be freed Monday. The federal government believes round 20 stay alive.
Folks hugged and took selfies. Many waved U.S. flags. “It is a actually glad time, however we all know that there are going to be some extremely tough moments coming,” stated one individual within the crowd, Yaniv Peretz.
Tons of desperately wanted meals
Assist teams urged Israel to reopen extra crossings to permit help into Gaza. A U.N. official, talking on situation of anonymity to debate particulars not but public, stated Israel has accepted expanded help deliveries, beginning Sunday.
The World Meals Program stated it was prepared to revive 145 meals distribution factors throughout the famine-stricken territory, as soon as Israel permits for expanded deliveries. Earlier than Israel sealed off Gaza in March, U.N. businesses supplied meals at 400 distribution factors.
Although the timeline and the way the meals will enter Gaza stay unclear, the distribution factors will permit Palestinians to entry meals at extra areas than they might by means of the U.S.- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Basis, which had operated 4 areas since taking on distribution in late Might.
COGAT, the Israeli navy physique answerable for humanitarian help, stated greater than 500 vans entered Gaza on Friday, though many crossings stay closed. Some 170,000 metric tons of meals help have been positioned in neighboring international locations awaiting Israeli permission.
Israel is also to free some 250 Palestinians serving jail sentences, in addition to round 1,700 individuals seized from Gaza the previous two years and held with out cost. The Israel Jail Service stated prisoners have been transferred to deportation amenities at Ofer and Ktzi’ot prisons, “awaiting directions from the political echelon.”
Questions on Gaza’s future
Questions stay on who will govern Gaza after Israeli troops steadily pull again and whether or not Hamas will disarm, as referred to as for within the ceasefire settlement.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who unilaterally ended the earlier ceasefire in March, has steered Israel might resume its offensive if Hamas fails to disarm.
“If it is achieved the straightforward method, so be it. If not, it will likely be achieved the exhausting method,” Netanyahu stated Friday, pledging that the subsequent stage would deliver Hamas’ disarmament.
The dimensions of Gaza’s destruction will change into clearer if the truce holds. Greater than three out of each 4 buildings have been destroyed, the U.N. stated in September — a quantity of particles equal to 25 Eiffel Towers, a lot of it seemingly poisonous.
The dying toll is predicted to rise as extra our bodies are discovered that could not be retrieved throughout Israel’s offensive.
A supervisor at northern Gaza’s Shifa Hospital instructed The Related Press that 45 our bodies pulled from the rubble in Gaza Metropolis had arrived over the previous 24 hours. The supervisor, talking on situation of anonymity for security causes, stated the our bodies had been lacking for a number of days to 2 weeks.
New safety preparations
U.S. President Donald Trump’s preliminary 20-point plan requires Israel to keep up an open-ended navy presence inside Gaza, alongside its border with Israel. A global drive, largely of troops from Arab and Muslim international locations, could be accountable for safety inside Gaza, although the timeline is unclear.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Saturday referred to as for the Gaza deployment of a world drive licensed by the U.N. Safety Council.
The Israeli navy has stated it’s going to proceed to function defensively from the roughly 50% of Gaza it nonetheless controls after pulling again to agreed-upon strains.
Witkoff instructed Israeli officers on Friday that the USA would set up a middle in Israel to coordinate points regarding Gaza till there’s a everlasting authorities, based on a readout of the assembly obtained by the AP. One other official who was not licensed to talk to the media confirmed the readout’s contents.
The readout stated no U.S. troopers might be on the bottom in Gaza, however there might be individuals who report back to the U.S. and plane would possibly monitor over the strip.
The battle started when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 individuals and taking about 250 hostage.
In Israel’s ensuing offensive, greater than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, based on Gaza’s Well being Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants however says round half the deaths have been girls and youngsters. The ministry is a part of the Hamas-run authorities, and the U.N. and lots of impartial consultants take into account its figures to be essentially the most dependable estimate of wartime casualties.
The battle has additionally triggered different conflicts within the area, sparked worldwide protests and led to allegations of genocide that Israel denies.
