Thousands of Gazans begin to return home as ceasefire goes into effect

It was almost immediate. Thousands of Gazans — aerial photographs show mass movement on Rashid, the coastal highway — displaced time and again during two years of war, began returning to their homes Friday, after the ceasefire went into effect. The Israeli army announced this at 12:00 local time, although according to the text of the agreement, it happened automatically earlier in the morning when Benjamin Netanyahu’s government voted by a large majority to give the green light to the first phase of Donald Trump’s peace plan. The troops have, in fact, already completed their partial withdrawal to a position from which they will still control half of Gaza, in preparation for the next step: the exchange, in the coming days, of the last 48 hostages remaining in the Strip for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Netanyahu warned in a defiant message that Hamas will be disarmed “by fair means or foul.”

A military spokesman told Gazans that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would “allow movement from south to north” via the two routes that cross the Strip, Rashid and Salahedinne, but warned them not to approach the troops, reminding them that “they will remain present in various areas of Gaza.” “Approaching them places lives at risk,” he added.

In particular, the spokesman defined as “extremely dangerous” any attempt to traverse “the areas of Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahiya, Shejaia, and any area with troop concentrations”; the Rafah crossing, the border with Egypt; the so-called Philadelphi Corridor; and parts of Khan Younis. The IDF has also prohibited anyone, including fishermen, from “entering the sea in the coming days.”

Shortly after the ceasefire began, Netanyahu addressed the nation in a pre-recorded speech in which he presented himself as the captain of a ship that has overcome all kinds of “internal and external pressures,” guided solely by Israel’s security. He claimed credit for securing the release of the remaining 48 hostages without requiring the IDF to completely withdraw from Gaza and presented the ceasefire as the result of a combination of “massive military pressure” over two years and “massive political pressure” from U.S. President Donald Trump. “We promised — and we are keeping our promise,” he said.

But above all, Netanyahu made it clear that if Hamas does not disarm “by fair means,” as outlined in the second phase of Trump’s plan, Israel will force the militia to do so “by foul means.” The message, aimed at his ultranationalist coalition partners (who voted against the agreement), opens the door to a Lebanese-style scenario, with almost daily strikes against Hezbollah targets, despite the existence of a ceasefire since last year.

Israel has also published the list of the 250 Palestinian prisoners, the most sensitive to public opinion, it will release: those serving at least a life sentence for participating in or organizing attacks against Israelis. It received the green light from the executive branch early Friday morning, following several hours of meetings to discuss the first phase of Trump’s agreement.

All ministers voted in favor of the text, except for those from the Jewish Power and Religious Zionism parties (with one exception). These two religious ultranationalist groupings aspire to annex Gaza and rebuild Jewish settlements.

Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law and advisor, Jared Kushner, participated in the executive meeting, in a demonstration of Israel’s dependence on its great ally and of Trump’s level of involvement in the Gaza agreement, reminiscent of the photograph, released by the White House, of the moment in which the U.S. president holds Netanyahu’s phone while he reads a written apology to Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani for having launched a strike at targets inside his country.

The text of the agreement, revealed by the Israeli public broadcaster, clearly states that the executive branch’s approval implies “the immediate end of the war.” In fact, Jalil al-Hayya, the head of the Hamas negotiating team, whom Israel had attempted to assassinate weeks earlier in Qatar, stated on Thursday afternoon that he had “guarantees from the United States and the mediating countries [Qatar and Egypt] and Turkey that the war is completely over.”

Netanyahu’s office, however, limited itself to announcing the approval of the “framework for the release of all hostages, both living and dead.” The Israeli prime minister also made no mention of the “end of the war” in his speech this Friday.

All this in just 36 breathtaking hours, during which Trump announced the agreement on the first phase of his plan; the parties and mediators signed it without media coverage in Egypt; the Israeli army halted its bombing and retreated at full speed (it had more time, up to 24 hours) to facilitate the swap, which still has no set date. Netanyahu was also ambiguous in his remarks (“in the coming days”). Trump put the timeframe around Monday (when he will address the Israeli Parliament) or Tuesday.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition