Displaced Gazans heading north to wrecked homes as Israeli troops withdraw after truce

Displaced Palestinians have begun returning to northern Gaza following the implementation of a ceasefire agreement between the Hamas resistance movement and the Israeli regime, aimed at end the genocidal war.

The Palestinians were starting to walk north to return to their wrecked and abandoned homes on Friday after the Israeli military said the ceasefire agreement with Hamas came into effect at noon local time and that Israeli troops were begun pulling back from parts of the territory to the agreed-upon deployment lines.

As soon as the troops withdrew, thousands of people were seen flooding back to Gaza City on foot along roads.

By midday on Friday, Israeli tanks had withdrawn from al-Rashid Road, which stretches from southern to northern Gaza and had previously been blocked to prevent displaced people from returning home.
Meanwhile, the Israeli regime published a list of 250 prisoners to be released in exchange for Israeli captives held in Gaza as part of the ceasefire deal.

However, the list does not include the names of several senior Palestinian leaders, including Marwan Barghouti and Ahmad Saadat.

Now, the 72-hour period to release all 48 remaining Israeli hostages from Gaza has started.

Gaza massacre

The ceasefire came after Palestinians reported heavy Israeli shelling on Friday morning in northern Gaza.

Gaza witnessed new Israeli attacks in the hours leading up to Israel’s announcement of the ceasefire implementation on Friday morning.

The occupying regime conducted air and artillery strikes in Gaza City and Khan Younis.
Medical sources also report that 35 dead bodies have been recovered from under the rubble since morning.

Israeli attacks continued on Thursday in the besieged Gaza Strip despite an announcement by mediators that a ceasefire had been reached to end the two-year aggression on the besieged Gaza Strip.

The Israeli cabinet ratified the agreement on Friday morning, just hours after Hamas announced that a deal had been reached.

On Thursday, Hamas chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya confirmed that the Palestinian movement had also approved the agreement to end the Israeli aggression.

He added that mediators had provided guarantees that the signing of the deal would mean the war “has ended indefinitely.”
Since October 2023, Israeli forces have killed more than 67,000 Palestinians, over 80 percent of whom are believed to be civilians, according to leaked data from the Israeli military.

The assault also caused widespread famine and led to the destruction or damage of nearly every standing structure in Gaza – including homes, hospitals, schools, mosques and churches.

Numerous international bodies, UN experts and countries have classified Israel’s actions as acts of genocide against the Palestinian people.

Gaza authorities call for immediate probe into Israeli war crimes

Gaza’s authorities called for a thorough investigation into Israeli crimes to begin immediately in the wake of the announcement of the ceasefire.

In a statement released on Friday, Gaza’s Government Media Office urged legal action against Israelis who ordered and perpetrated war crimes.

It asked for “the international community, the United Nations, all international and legal organizations, and the International Criminal Court to hold the leaders of Israel accountable and to not grant them any political or legal immunity”.

The office said it wanted “the formation of an independent international committee to investigate war crimes and genocide and ensure the return and compensation of all displaced people.”

It also demanded “an immediate and comprehensive end to genocide in all its forms, including killing, bombing, starvation, siege, and forced displacement.”

The office called for a complete lifting of the siege on the Gaza Strip and the immediate opening of all crossings to allow the entry of aid without restrictions.

Unconditional aid entering Gaza is also part of the deal, but there’s no word yet on any aid entering the besieged Palestinian region.

Around 600 trucks are expected to enter daily under the ceasefire agreement.

The Gaza office sought an urgent plan for the comprehensive reconstruction of the Gaza Strip with Arab and international funding, according to a transparent mechanism that guarantees the delivery of resources to civilians.

It urged an urgent action for the protection of medical, media, and humanitarian personnel in accordance with the Geneva Conventions, and the return of the bodies stolen by Israel.

Elsewhere in the statement, the office also called for the immediate release of all Palestinian prisoners and detainees languishing in Israeli prisons.

The statement demanded the urgent evacuation of sick and wounded people, especially children and cancer patients, to receive treatment abroad.