Hope returns to Gaza as ceasefire takes hold and Palestinians return home

A fragile calm settled over Gaza on October 9 as a long-awaited ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect, allowing thousands of Palestinians to begin returning to their shattered homes while aid trucks rumbled across the border for the first time in months.

The truce, endorsed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet and brokered under a plan backed by former US President Donald Trump, marks the most significant diplomatic breakthrough since the war erupted on October 7, 2023.

According to the Associated Press, the agreement involves Hamas releasing all surviving hostages within days, while Israel will free around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and withdraw most of its forces from the Gaza Strip. The deal, to be formalized in Egypt, also includes reopening border crossings and enabling large-scale humanitarian relief to flow into the devastated enclave.

The United States will deploy about 200 troops to Israel to help coordinate and monitor the ceasefire as part of a multinational team. The effort will include forces from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and the UAE — though Washington has clarified that no American soldiers will enter Gaza.

In a televised address, senior Hamas negotiator Khalil al-Hayya declared that “the war is over,” pledging renewed focus on Palestinian statehood and self-determination.

The war, triggered by Hamas’s deadly assault that killed 1,200 people in Israel two years ago, has since claimed more than 67,000 Palestinian lives, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Across Gaza, scenes of weary joy and heartbreak unfolded as families trekked back toward what remained of their neighborhoods.

“As soon as we heard the news of the truce and ceasefire, we were very happy and got ready to go back to Gaza City, to our homes,” said Mahdi Saqla, 40. “Of course there are no homes – they’ve been destroyed. But we are happy just to return to where our homes were, even over the rubble.”

In Khan Younis and Nusseirat, residents reported partial Israeli withdrawals but also sporadic gunfire and shelling overnight. Humanitarian agencies began cautiously moving in, with the UNICEF confirming it had evacuated two newborns from a North Gaza hospital after days of fighting prevented rescue efforts.

“I hope this is just an example of what will come after the ceasefire is fully implemented,” said UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires, as 16 other infants still awaited clearance to be moved.

While doubts linger over how long the ceasefire will hold, for the first time in two years, Gaza’s battered population is daring to hope — that the silence of guns might finally last.