Gazans stream back home as Israel-Hamas ceasefire holds

By Mahmoud Issa and Rami Amichay

GAZA/TEL AVIV, Oct 11 (Reuters) - 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.

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

U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff was in Gaza early Saturday to observe the Israeli military redeployment, Israeli Army Radio reported, citing a security source.

He was joined by the head of the U.S. military's Central Command (CENTCOM), Admiral Brad Cooper, who said in a statement that his visit was part of the establishment of a task force that would support stabilisation efforts in Gaza, though U.S. troops would not be deployed inside the enclave.

CLOCK TICKING ON RELEASE OF HOSTAGES

Once the Israeli forces had completed their redeployment on Friday, which keeps them out of major urban areas but still in control of roughly half the enclave, the clock began ticking for Hamas to release its hostages within 72 hours.

"We are very excited, waiting for our son and for all the 48 hostages," said Hagai Angrest, whose son Matan is among the 20 Israeli hostages believed to still be alive. "We are waiting for the phone call."

Twenty-six hostages have been declared dead in absentia and the fate of two more is unknown.

According to the agreement, after the hostages are handed over, Israel will free 250 Palestinians serving long sentences in its prisons and 1,700 detainees captured during the war.

Hundreds of trucks per day are expected to surge into Gaza carrying food and medical aid, according to the agreement.

TRUMP EXPECTED TO TRAVEL TO ISRAEL AND EGYPT

But questions remain about whether the ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange deal, the biggest step yet towards ending two years of war, will lead to a lasting peace under Trump's 20-point plan.

Much could still go wrong. Further steps in Trump's plan have yet to be agreed. These include how the demolished Gaza Strip is to be ruled when fighting ends, and the ultimate fate of Hamas, which has rejected Israel's demands it disarm.

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 still have to be worked out.

Israelis and Palestinians alike rejoiced after the deal was announced to end a war in which more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly civilians, and to return the last hostages seized by Hamas in the deadly attack that provoked it.

During the Hamas attack on Israeli communities, military bases and a music festival on October 7, 2023, militants killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and captured 251 hostages.

Trump is expected to visit the region on Monday and address the Knesset, Israel's parliament, the first U.S. president to do so since George W. Bush in 2008.

Trump said he would also travel to Egypt and that other world leaders were expected to be present.