GAZA STRIP (Dispatches) -- 
Israeli forces started a partial withdrawal from certain areas inside Gaza Friday, marking the first step in implementing a ceasefire agreement brokered between Israel and Hamas. 
The withdrawal is tied to a planned prisoner exchange expected to take place within the next 72 hours.
The Israeli military is pulling back in line with a detailed map outlining the first phase of troop redeployment, which sees forces retreating from Gaza’s major population centers. However, the plan does not call for a full Israeli withdrawal; instead, troops will reposition toward the Gaza border, where a buffer zone is expected to be established.
According to Israel’s Channel 12, “Over the next 24 hours, the Israeli army will complete its withdrawal from certain areas inside the Gaza Strip to the yellow line, as agreed in the Trump plan between Israel and Hamas. The forces are expected to withdraw eastward from Rafah and Khan Yunis in the south and from areas north of the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Army Radio reported that the withdrawal would be completed by the afternoon of October 10, with forces beginning to pull back on Thursday morning. As the military retreated, residents of southern Gaza’s devastated cities, including Khan Yunis, began returning to their homes—many of which have been reduced to rubble by relentless Israeli bombardment.
For thousands of displaced Gazans, returning home after months of war is both a moment of relief and overwhelming despair. The destruction wrought by Israeli airstrikes and artillery over two years, including the recent escalation, has left almost every building damaged or destroyed. Homes, hospitals, schools, mosques, and vital infrastructure lie in ruins.
Witnesses report shock at the scale of devastation. Streets once bustling with life are now piles of concrete and twisted metal. For many returning families, this homecoming brings difficult questions about survival and rebuilding amid scarce resources and ongoing insecurity.
Bilal Abu Madin, a Gaza resident, described the scene as “something even movies could not portray.” The psychological toll on civilians, many of whom lost family and friends in the fighting, is immense. Abu Madin expressed a bittersweet hope: “I hope to see Gaza great again and to see Gaza rebuilt.”
Despite the ceasefire agreement, violence has continued to flare in Gaza. Israeli forces carried out several strikes during the partial withdrawal. On Friday, five Palestinians were injured when Israeli

 forces hit a school used as a shelter, and shelling was reported near Nuseirat camp in central Gaza. 
The day before, an airstrike on a home in western Gaza killed or injured at least 73 Palestinians in what some reports described as an assassination attempt.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office cautioned that “the mission in Gaza is not over yet,” signaling that the withdrawal does not mark the end of the Zionist regime’s atrocities. 
This pattern is consistent with a long history of ceasefire violations by Israel, which has repeatedly broken previous agreements brokered to halt violence in Gaza. Previous ceasefires have been short-lived, with Israel frequently resuming airstrikes, artillery bombardments, and ground incursions that devastated civilian infrastructure and caused mass casualties.
International bodies and human rights groups have condemned these breaches as violations of international law, with many saying Israel is deliberately targeting civilian areas. The ongoing blockade of Gaza, one of the world’s most densely populated territories, compounds the humanitarian crisis, restricting access to food, medicine, fuel, and reconstruction materials.
The current ceasefire agreement includes a complex prisoner exchange: Israel will release approximately 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including 250 serving life sentences, in return for 20 living Israeli captives and several bodies held by Hamas.
However, the list of prisoners Israel agrees to release remains contentious and unresolved. Reports indicate that Israel has unilaterally removed several high-profile prisoners, including Marwan Barghouti—one of the most prominent Palestinian political figures—from the exchange list. Barghouti’s exclusion is seen as a significant obstacle to the agreement, as his release was central to Hamas’s demands.
Barghouti, imprisoned since 2004 and a key figure in the Palestinian resistance, enjoys widespread popularity and is considered a potential future leader. His wife is reportedly lobbying negotiators in Cairo to ensure his inclusion in the deal.
Other notable figures whose names were removed include Ahmed Saadat, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and several senior Hamas officials. Palestinian authorities says Israel is deliberately sabotaging the prisoner deal to weaken the ceasefire’s implementation.
The current ceasefire comes after a brutal Israeli war that began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, citing decades of Israeli occupation, violations at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the crippling blockade of Gaza, and the mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners.
Israel’s response was a devastating bombing campaign followed by a two-year ground invasion and strict siege, resulting in over 67,000 Palestinian deaths—mostly civilians—and widespread destruction across Gaza. UN experts, international organizations, and many countries have described Israel’s actions as acts of genocide and war crimes.
While the withdrawal and prisoner exchange offer a glimmer of hope, many Palestinians remain skeptical. The history of broken promises and continued occupation feeds doubt that this ceasefire will bring lasting peace.
Hamas has emphasized that a true and lasting peace requires the end of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, including Gaza and the West Bank. Until that happens, tensions and outbreaks of war are likely to continue.
The Palestinian struggle for freedom spans over a century, marked by displacement, resistance, and resilience. The return of Gazans to their devastated homes underscores the urgent need for reconstruction and justice.
As Gaza’s residents confront the ruins of their neighborhoods, they also face an uncertain future where the promise of peace remains fragile and conditional.
The international community’s role in enforcing ceasefires, upholding human rights, and supporting reconstruction will be critical to preventing future escalations and enabling Gaza’s recovery.