Tens of thousands of Palestinians streamed into the most heavily destroyed part of the Gaza Strip on Monday as Israel lifted its closure of the north for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month war with Hamas in accordance with a fragile ceasefire.

Mughrabi GAZA/CAIRO (Reuters) -Displaced Palestinians returning to their homes in Gaza City this week found a city in ruins after 15 months of fighting, with many seeking shelter amongst the rubble and searching for relatives lost in the chaotic return march.

Scrambling over sand banks and craters, hundreds of thousands of Palestinian families describe the long trek back home to Nedal Hamdouna inside Gaza and Bel Trew

After a ceasefire deal paused 15 months of war in Gaza, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians returned to the rubble of their homes.

My mother, father, and brothers are all buried in one grave,” 12-year-old Alma Ja’arour said. "There is no home to return to, no one waiting for me.”

Nedal Hamdouna, a Palestinian journalist, has been displaced seven times by the 15-month war in Gaza. Here, he describes the joy he felt in being able to return to Beit Lahia in the north of the strip

With a ceasefire agreement pausing the war between Israel and Hamas, Israeli troops have withdrawn from Gaza city centers. For the first time in eight months, NPR got a glimpse of Rafah this week.

Israel is letting thousands of Palestinians return to northern Gaza for the first time since the early weeks of the war with Hamas​, as a fragile ceasefire endures​.

By OSAMA SALEH, WAFAA SHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians streamed into Gaza’s most heavily destroyed area on Monday after Israel

Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians returning to their homes in northern Gaza have passed through checkpoints in a central zone of the enclave where scanners check for concealed weapons being taken in cars and vehicles.

When the mother of one of the Thai hostages held in the Gaza Strip for over a year caught sight of her son on a Facebook livestream after his release Thursday, he had