The truce is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and Hamas, whose Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel sparked the fighting.

Four female Israeli soldiers held hostage by Hamas have returned to Israel after militants paraded them in front of a crowd of thousands in Gaza City.

Under the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, thousands of Palestinians have begun the painful journey back to their homes in northern Gaza. After being displaced for over 16 months, many are returning to find their homes destroyed and their communities shattered.

Israel says it has killed thousands of the armed group’s members and destroyed much of its infrastructure, but since the cease-fire started Hamas has shown it still holds power in the enclave.

After 15 months of war, the fighting in Gaza has paused. Aid is now getting into the region, bringing things such as food and medicine to the people living there. And those who had to flee the areas where the fighting was at its most intense are now making their way back home.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed 15 months ago that Israel would achieve “total victory” in the war in Gaza — by eradicating Hamas and freeing all the hostages.

The joy of thousands of Palestinian families who made it back home in north Gaza after a ceasefire with Israel is turning to despair as the cold reality of uninhabitable, bombed-out homes and dire shortages of basic supplies sets in.

Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians traveled along the coast of Gaza on Jan. 27 to the north of the enclave after Israel opened roadblocks.