Their cars almost pancaked flat under the weight of the family belongings, Palestinians are still making the tentative journey back home through the rubble.

extraordinary mass return played out on gridlocked Salah al-Din road as locals moved back to the northern part of the Strip for the first time in 15 months. This was the moving scene set off by a fragile ceasefire in which has withdrawn troops to the edge of to return to their homes.

Every kind of furniture, bedding, kitchen appliance and clothing package could be seen strapped down on the roofs of battered old cars, vans and even lorries. For families who have lost almost everything, uncertain if their house is reduced to rubble or still standing these possessions were snatched in a hurry as war worsened.

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As Israel and Hamas engaged in brutal gun and missile exchanges these locals fled the north for the south, some in the clothes they still stand in. According to the ceasefire agreement, vehicles passing through the Netzarim Corridor and Salah al-Din are checked with X-RAY devices.

The war, triggered by the October 7 Hamas attacks on southern Israel has killed at least 47,00 Palestinians in Gaza, with more than 10,000 feared still lying dead under the rubble.

Another 850 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, where militant groups have risen up in support of Hamas and in protest against Israel’s Gaza attack. As many as 1200 died in the initial Hamas attack and 250 were kidnapped and taken back into the Strip.

Eight of the remaining hostages set to be released in the first phase of the ceasefire agreement are dead. The rest of the 26 hostages who are expected to be returned from Gaza to their families in phase one of the deal are alive and seven others have already been freed.