Thousands of displaced Gazans carrying tents, clothes and personal belongings have begun heading to their homes after a long-awaited ceasefire took effect after more than 15 months of Israel’s military offensive.

AFP journalists saw Palestinians travelling by truck, donkey cart and on foot back to their homes through devastated swathes of Gaza, particularly in the northern parts of the Palestinian territory.

 Displaced Palestinians walk past the rubble as they attempt to return to their homes, following a delay in the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas over the hostage list, in the northern Gaza Strip on Jan 19, 2025. — Reuters/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Displaced Palestinians walk past the rubble as they attempt to return to their homes, following a delay in the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas over the hostage list, in the northern Gaza Strip on Jan 19, 2025. — Reuters/Dawoud Abu Alkas

Opinion

Editorial

Growth to stability
Updated 29 Apr, 2026

Growth to stability

THE State Bank’s decision to raise its key policy rate by 100 basis points to 11.5pc signals a shift in priorities...
Constitutional order
29 Apr, 2026

Constitutional order

FOLLOWING the passage of the 26th and 27th Amendments, in 2024 and 2025 respectively, jurists and members of the...
Protecting childhood
29 Apr, 2026

Protecting childhood

AN important victory for child protection was secured on Monday with the Punjab Assembly’s passage of the Child...
Unlearnt lessons
Updated 28 Apr, 2026

Unlearnt lessons

THE US is undoubtedly the world’s top military and economic power at this time. Yet as the Iran quagmire has ...
Solar vision?
28 Apr, 2026

Solar vision?

THE recent imposition of certain regulatory requirements for small-scale solar systems, followed by the reversal of...
Breaking malaria’s grip
28 Apr, 2026

Breaking malaria’s grip

FOR the first time in decades, defeating malaria in our lifetime is possible, according to WHO. Yet in Pakistan,...