ISRAELI OCCUPIED AND STARVED GAZA, 12 Oct. - (ANA) - Hundreds of thousands of war-weary Palestinians returned to a devastated Gaza City on Saturday, with families picking their way through rubble-strewn streets only to find many of their homes in ruins.

 

On the second day of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the scale of the recovery operation was daunting, even as negotiations and preparations for a prisoner swap continued.

 

A significant number of Palestinian returnees travelled on Gaza's Al-Rashid Street in a bid to reach the enclave's north, though the highway has been subject to prominent damage due to Israeli strikes, making the journey all the more difficult.

 

Gazans, however, are mostly returning to ruins, with most of the enclave's infrastructure destroyed.

 

 

This comes amid a ceasefire deal reached on Thursday as US President Donald Trump is due in the Middle East in the next two days to mark the promised release of Israeli captives and to promote the next phase of his plan.

 

But in an early sign that much political wrangling remains, a senior Hamas official told AFP that it was "out of the question" that the Palestinian group would disarm, as required by the plan, even if it steps aside from Gaza's government.   - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/12 October 2025  - - -