What We Know Now
- Israel’s cabinet has endorsed the U.S.-brokered Gaza ceasefire, but it remains uncertain whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has directed the military to halt operations.
- The United States is deploying 200 troops to the Middle East to help monitor the ceasefire plan, working alongside forces from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and the UAE, according to a senior official. Another official emphasized that no U.S. troops will enter Gaza.
- The deal provides for a swap of Palestinian prisoners for hostages, including the living and the deceased.
JERUSALEM/CAIRO, Oct 10 (Reuters) – Thousands of displaced Palestinians trekked over the wastelands of Gaza to return to the ruins of their abandoned homes on Friday, after a ceasefire took effect and Israeli troops began pulling back under the first phase of an agreement to end the war.
A huge column of people filed on foot north along the coastal road overlooking sandy beaches towards Gaza City, the enclave’s biggest urban area, which had been under attack just days ago in one of Israel’s biggest offensives of the war.
“We went to our area. It was exterminated. We don’t know where we will go after that,” he said. “We couldn’t get the furniture, or clothes, or anything, not even winter clothes. Nothing is left.”
Palestinian health authorities said medical teams were able to recover 100 bodies from areas across the Gaza Strip after the army pulled back.
Even as Gazans headed home, questions loomed about whether the ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas, the biggest step yet toward ending two years of war, would lead to a lasting peace under U.S. President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan to end the war.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump expressed confidence the ceasefire would hold, saying: “They’re all tired of the fighting.” He said he believed there was a “consensus” on the next steps but acknowledged some details would still have to be worked out.
