Gaza City, October 11, 2025: Tens of thousands of weary Palestinians began returning to their devastated homes on Saturday, a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect, ending two years of relentless conflict in the Gaza Strip.
According to Reuters, massive crowds were seen walking north along Gaza’s coastal highway towards Gaza City, once the heart of the enclave and a primary target of Israeli bombardment. Civil Defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal said nearly 200,000 Palestinians had already returned to northern Gaza since the truce began.
“Thank God my house is still standing,” said Ismail Zayda, surveying the wreckage in the Sheikh Radwan district. “But the place is destroyed, my neighbors’ homes are gone, entire districts have vanished.”
For others, even the ruins offered a painful kind of solace. “There are no homes, they’ve been destroyed,” said Mahdi Saqla, who returned to Gaza City with his family. “But we are happy just to return to where our homes were, even over the rubble. That too is a great joy. For two years, we’ve been suffering, displaced from place to place.”
In Khan Younis, hundreds found only rubble and ash where homes once stood after Israeli troops withdrew. “There was nothing left. Just a few clothes, pieces of wood and pots,” said Fatma Radwan, who was searching for the bodies of loved ones beneath the debris. Another resident, Ahmed al-Brim, said he had managed to retrieve only timber to use as firewood. “We couldn’t get the furniture, or clothes, or anything, not even winter clothes,” he said.
The Israeli army confirmed troop pullbacks from forward positions in Gaza City and Khan Younis, though it cautioned civilians to stay clear as it “adjusts operational positions.”
Meanwhile, the United Nations said it had been authorized by Israel to begin large-scale aid deliveries starting Sunday, including 170,000 metric tons of relief supplies stored in Egypt and Jordan. The UN described conditions in Gaza as “catastrophic,” with widespread famine, malnutrition, and lack of shelter.
“If people are returning to destruction, they’re going to need tremendous support,” UNICEF official Tess Ingram told DW. “They need fresh water, shelter, and winter clothing. It’s awful to see so many children walking barefoot across the rubble.”
The truce also marks the start of the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan, which envisions an international stabilization force led by Arab and Muslim nations and a transitional authority for Gaza under Trump’s supervision, with a key role for former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Hamas, however, rejected any “foreign guardianship,” declaring that Gaza’s governance “is purely a Palestinian matter.”
Under the deal, Hamas will release 48 remaining hostages, including 20 believed to be alive, within days.
The war, sparked by the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks that killed about 1,200 Israelis and led to 251 hostages being taken, has since claimed tens of thousands of Palestinian lives and displaced nearly 90% of Gaza’s population.
While many celebrated the long-awaited ceasefire, the return home for most Gazans was marked not by relief, but by the grim reality of shattered neighborhoods and uncertain futures.
