“The past three days have been quite difficult for Palestinians. Particularly for the displaced population returning to their homes in the northern part of Gaza with the possible collapse of the ceasefire and statements from Hamas three days ago, and their threats to suspend the release of captives in response to intimidating behaviour by Israel,” Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud reports from Rafah in southern Gaza.

“It was not until earlier this afternoon that things started to look more positive with the release to go ahead on Saturday, the deadline, as per the agreement of the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel,” he said.

Israel has also begun to allow more aid trucks in, carrying most of the essential supplies and necessities needed for people to survive the difficult living conditions created by 15 months of devastation and destruction.

“We’re really seeing many of the trucks coming in, fuel trucks, as well as food and other sanitary materials making their way to the Gaza Strip.

“We haven’t seen any of the trucks carrying the most essential stuff: bulldozers and other heavy machinery equipment needed to remove rubble from the road. As of this moment, many of the roads are still blocked by rubble,” he said.

The streets are hard to walk in and hard to drive vehicles over because of the rubble and rock in the streets. So these bulldozers and trucks are much needed now to start the process of clearing areas, including much of the Gaza Strip, with close to 80 percent of it now under rubble, Mahmoud said.