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.

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.

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

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

During a pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas, with fragile hopes for an end to the war, relief is soon weighed down by sorrow.

Despite the extreme hardships they have experienced and the long road ahead, children in Gaza are holding fast to their dreams of a better future.

With a ceasefire agreement pausing the war between Israel and Hamas, Israeli troops have withdrawn from Gaza city centers.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.

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.

Hamas is preparing a stage in the Gaza Strip for the release of the hostages Arbel Yehoud, Agam Berger, and Gadi Moses expected on Thursday, according to footage published on social media on Thursday. Footage from Jabalya in northern Gaza showed a banner with the names of IDF units.

Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians began returning home to northern Gaza on Monday, bracing for what awaits them in a region that has been reduced to rubble by months of brutal bombardment and fighting.

Ali Al-Ansari, media attache to the Qatari Embassy to the United States, told Newsweek his nation "appreciates the important role and positive impact of President Trump and his administration, particularly the efforts of his special envoy Steve Witkoff, in finalizing the agreement."