Ceasefire Takes Hold in Gaza

Palestinians began returning to the north of Gaza on Friday after Israel's military said a ceasefire was in effect and its forces were shifting positions inside the territory as part of the agreement. The ceasefire at noon local time came after the Israeli government approved the deal early Friday, the New York Times reports. The withdrawal to agreed-upon lines marks the start of a 72-hour period in which Hamas has agreed to release all remaining hostages, including the 20 believed to still be alive, the Times of Israel reports.

Under the terms of the deal, Israel will release 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences along with more than 1,700 Gazans held since the war began, among them 22 minors. After the pullback, the Israeli military remains in control of 53% of Gaza's territory, most of it outside cities, per the Times of Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that the military will hold a "controlling position" in Gaza for the next stage of the plan, which he said will involve disarming Hamas and demilitarizing Gaza, reports Reuters. "If this is achieved the easy way then that will be good, and if not then it will be achieved the hard way," he said. The AP reports that people in central Gaza said Israeli shelling intensified in the hours before the ceasefire took effect.

• Netanyahu said he knew that if pressure was "added from our big friend President Trump, this powerful combination will cause Hamas to give back all of our hostages, while the IDF remains deep inside the Strip and holds all the key positions."
• The International Committee of the Red Cross said its teams in Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel are ready to help "return hostages and detainees to their families," the BBC reports. The group said its teams are "also ready to help return human remains so families can mourn their loved ones with dignity."
• Mahdi Saqla, 40, was among the many Gazans filing north on Friday. "As soon as we heard the news of the truce and ceasefire, we were very happy and got ready to go back to Gaza City, to our homes. Of course there are no homes—they've been destroyed," he told Reuters. "But we are happy just to return to where our homes were, even over the rubble. That, too, is a great joy. For two years we've been suffering, displaced from place to place."