Thousands of displaced Palestinians streamed back towards their abandoned homes on Friday after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect and Israeli troops began pulling back from parts of Gaza.

A massive column of displaced Gazans filed north through the dust 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.

“Thank God my house is still standing,” said Ismail Zayda, 40, in the Sheikh Radwan area in Gaza City. “But the place is destroyed, my neighbours’ houses are destroyed, entire districts have gone.”

The Israeli military said the ceasefire agreement had been activated at noon local time (0900 GMT). Israel’s government ratified the ceasefire with Hamas in the early hours of Frid

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