
Palestinians return to ruins and US troops land in Israel as ceasefire holds
Global News
Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians returned to Gaza on Saturday as a fragile ceasefire with Israel entered its second day.
Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians returned to their Gaza neighborhoods Saturday, weaving through dust-shrouded streets as bulldozers clawed through the wreckage of two years of conflict and a ceasefire held in its second day.
“Gaza is completely destroyed. I have no idea where we should live or where to go,” said Mahmoud al-Shandoghli as he walked through Gaza City. A boy climbed a shattered building to raise the Palestinian flag.
About 200 U.S. troops arrived in Israel to monitor the ceasefire with Hamas.
They will set up a center to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid as well as logistical and security assistance.
The head of the U.S. military’s Central Command said he visited Gaza on Saturday to prepare it.
“This great effort will be achieved with no U.S. boots on the ground in Gaza,” Adm. Brad Cooper said in a statement.
An Egyptian official said U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff met with senior U.S. and Israeli military officials in Gaza on Saturday and that Witkoff stressed the implementation of the ceasefire deal’s first phase. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to talk to reporters.
Aid groups urged Israel to reopen more crossings to allow aid into Gaza. A U.N. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet public, said Israel has approved expanded aid deliveries, starting Sunday.













