Trump-Gaza latest: Palestinians return to flattened homes ahead of Israeli hostage release in fragile ceasefire – UK Times

At least 135 bodies have been recovered from under the rubble in Gaza since a ceasefire came into place on Friday morning, according to medical sources.

A major operation by Palestinian emergency workers and civilians to sift through the rubble is underway as a fragile ceasefire holds between Israel and Gaza.

Palestinian news agency Wafa cited the medical sources as saying that dozens were taken to several hospitals across Gaza, including al-Shifa and al-Ahli Arab in GAza City, along with hospitals in Nuseirat, Deir el-Balah and Khan Younis.

The most popular and potentially unifying Palestinian leader — Marwan Barghouti — is not among the prisoners Israel intends to free in exchange for hostages held by Hamas under the new Gaza ceasefire deal.

Most of those on the Israeli prisoner list are members of Hamas and the Fatah faction arrested in the 2000s. Many of them were convicted of involvement in shootings, bombings or other attacks that killed or attempted to kill Israeli civilians, settlers and soldiers. After their release, more than half will be sent to Gaza or into exile outside the Palestinian territories, according to the list.

The 2000s saw the eruption of the Second Intifada, a Palestinian uprising fueled by anger over continued occupation despite years of peace talks. The uprising turned bloody, with Palestinian armed groups carrying out attacks that killed hundreds of Israelis, and the Israeli military killing several thousand Palestinians.

One prisoner who will be freed is Iyad Abu al-Rub, an Islamic Jihad commander convicted of orchestrating suicide bombings in Israel from 2003-2005 that killed 13 people.

The oldest and longest imprisoned to be released is 64-year-old Samir Abu Naama, a Fatah member who was arrested from the West Bank in 1986 and convicted on charges of planting explosives. The youngest is Mohammed Abu Qatish, who was 16 when he was arrested in 2022 and convicted of an attempted stabbing.

Israel has killed one person and wounded seven others in a fresh air attack on southern Lebanon, the Health Ministry said.

The pre-dawn airstrikes on the village of Msayleh struck a place that sold heavy machinery, destroying a large number of vehicles, and briefly cutting a highway that links Beirut with parts of south Lebanon.

It is the latest of Israel’s almost-daily air attacks on southern Lebanon since a ceasefire was agreed in November 2024. Israel accuses Hezbollah of trying to rebuild its capabilities after the group suffered heavy losses during the war.

A vehicle carrying vegetables that happened to be passing by at the time of the strikes was hit, killing one person and wounding another, according to Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV.

The Health Ministry later said that the one slain was a Syrian citizen, while the wounded were a Syrian national and six Lebanese, including two women.

The Israeli military said it struck a place where machinery was stored to be used to rebuild infrastructure for the militant Hezbollah group.

The Independent’s foreign affairs reporter James Reynolds reports:

A British nurse in Gaza said that locals in Deir al-Balah were “happy that this might come to an end” – but the reaction to news of a ceasefire was “more muted than expected”.

Paula Tobin, a nurse with UK-Med working at a field hospital in central Gaza Strip, told The Independent that people were celebrating, but remained exhausted after a “really long, traumatic experience”.

“It’s quite muted. More than I would have expected,” she said.

“I think they’re hopeful, but they’re just exhausted,” she said. “Their living conditions are terrible. There’s so much overcrowding in the tents. There’s poor access to food, poor access to water, no safety, no security.”

She said she hoped that residents would be able to “go to sleep tonight and maybe not fear for their children’s lives” after two years of almost unabated conflict.

Paula said that medical facilities across Gaza still faced major shortages, especially in the north where the hospital medical system was “completely decimated”.

Asked whether there was any indication more aid was expected to come into Gaza as a result of the ceasefire agreement, she said: “As far as I am aware, it’s part of the plan that aid will be allowed in. We’re desperately in need of medical supplies.”

She said she was unaware of an exact timeline for supplies to be brought in at the time.

Clutching little more than a small rucksack or a metal can to hold water, tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza began their long walk home on Friday after a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel came into effect.

Snaking along the coastal road heading north to Gaza City, those displaced countless times over two years of unprecedented bloodshed took to the road once more. Many carried nothing more than the clothes they were wearing as they dared to hope that a pause in the fighting might finally be more permanent.

Flanking the road were the ashen remains of buildings destroyed by relentless Israeli bombing. Mangled skylines loomed up around them, above piles of concrete rubble and twisted metal.

The Independent’s chief international correspondent Bel Trew and Nedal Hamdouna write:

A long-awaited ceasefire is now in place, after Donald Trump pushed Israel and Hamas to accept his 20-point plan to end the Israeli military campaign in Gaza.

The truce came into place on Friday morning, and will see thousands of Palestinians return home to their homes, which have been left largely in rubble following two years of bombardment.

The Israeli military said it has “begun positioning” its troops along the lines detailed in the ceasefire agreement.

On Friday morning, a 72-hour countdown began in which Hamas must release all 20 hostages who are believed to still be alive. They must be handed over by 12:00 local time (10:00 BST) on Monday.

The exact details of their release remains unclear, but in previous hostage handovers they’ve been collected by the Red Cross which has transferred them to Israel. From there, they have been airlifted to Israeli hospitals for check-ups and to be reunited with their families.

During this process, we expect to see the release of about 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences in Israeli jails and 1,700 detainees from Gaza.

We also expect to see about 600 humanitarian aid trucks entering Gaza daily from now on.

After this process has been completed, negotiations are expected to begin over the latter phases of Donald Trump’s 20-point plan.

Israel Police said Operation “Blue Shield 6″ will be enacted and is being finalised ahead of Donald Trump’s visit to the country on Monday.

The country will mobilise “thousands of police and Border Police officers”. police said.

In an update on X, the police force said officers will be deployed “along key routes to ensure public safety, order, and smooth traffic flow during the state visit”.

It also means the phased withdrawal of Israeli troops to lines agreed upon during discussions, a key sticking point for both sides.

Israel’s critics have alleged that its military campaign has been part of an expansionist agenda, while Israel maintains it does not want to expel Palestinians from the Strip and is only seeking to destroy Hamas.

Police have put measures in place to try to prevent a clash between pro-Palestine protesters and counter-protesters in London, a day after the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas came into effect.

Hundreds of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters are expected to gather for a march and speeches in central London on Saturday, as tens of thousands of Palestinians returned to their homes in Gaza following the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

Meanwhile, Stop The Hate has organised a counter-protest, at the junction of Aldwych and the Strand, police said.

Scotland Yard has imposed conditions under the Public Order Act to “prevent serious disruption” during the demonstrations, it said.

Conditions have been imposed on both demonstrations by the force, which set out specific areas protesters can gather as well as a march route.

The pro-Palestinian protest will be the 32nd national demonstration in support of Palestine since October 2023, according to organiser Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), and will see protesters march along Embankment ending with in a rally in Whitehall.

The Metropolitan Police made reference to recent Government proposals to give police greater powers to restrict repeat protests but said that “at this time, the law remains unchanged”.

The measures announced last weekend follow frequent pro-Palestinian demonstrations, including in London last Saturday.

Almost 500 people were arrested at last week’s protest, with the majority on suspicion of supporting the banned terror organisation Palestine Action.

Calls for restraint had been made following the terror attack on a synagogue in Manchester on October 2 in which two people were killed, with prime minister Sir Keir Starmer urging protesters to “respect the grief of British Jews”.