Updates: Israeli troops pull back; Palestinians return to destroyed homes

For an on-the-ground look at how Palestinians in Gaza are reacting to the ceasefire, see our story from al-Mawasi here.

If you’re interested in the call by authorities in Gaza for a war crimes probe, check out this story.

Or for something from the occupied West Bank, see this piece about how Palestinian journalists are honouring their fallen colleagues in Gaza.

We will soon be closing this live page. Here’s a look at the day’s main developments:

• A US-brokered ceasefire has come into effect in the Gaza Strip, with Israeli forces withdrawing to an agreed-upon line and tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians returning to their war-ravaged homes and communities.
• Under the terms of the deal, Hamas has 72 hours from the time the ceasefire began to release Israeli captives held in Gaza and the bodies of slain captives.
• United Nations agencies have called on Israel to immediately open all crossings into Gaza to allow in desperately needed humanitarian aid. Scaled-up deliveries will reportedly begin on Sunday.
• The Gaza authorities have called for an independent, international committee to launch an immediate investigation into war crimes and genocide during Israel’s two-year war.
• At least 36 people, including journalists, have been injured in attacks by Israeli military forces and Israelis from illegal settlements in areas near Nablus in the occupied West Bank.

Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani has discussed the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire agreement in a phone call with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Sheikh Mohammed told Guterres that Qatar “will spare no effort in fulfilling its humanitarian, historical, and diplomatic duty towards the Palestinians”, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

Guterres expressed thanks for Qatar’s “pivotal diplomatic role” in “facilitating the negotiations” that led to the agreement being reached.

Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs @MBA_AlThani_ Receives Phone Call from UN Secretary-General#MOFAQatar pic.twitter.com/xyG6wCCSdi

— Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Qatar (@MofaQatar_EN) October 10, 2025

A ceasefire agreement for Gaza – and cautious hope among Palestinians of an end to two years of genocide. US President Donald Trump announced the deal after putting pressure on Israel to agree.

What impact has the war had on Israeli-US relations?

Watch below:

An EU mission at the Rafah border point between Gaza and Egypt will resume following the ceasefire, with the pedestrian crossing set to reopen on Tuesday, Italy says.

The EUBAM monitoring mission is intended to provide a neutral, third-party presence at the key crossing and involves police from Italy, Spain and France. It was deployed in January but suspended in March when Israel broke the last ceasefire.

In a statement, Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said he authorised the resumption of Italian operations within the EU mission.

“On October 14, 2025, in compliance with the Trump agreement, in coordination with the European Union and the parties, the Rafah crossing will be opened alternately in two directions, exiting towards Egypt and entering towards Gaza,” Crosetto said.

Crosetto said about “600 trucks carrying humanitarian aid will flow into Gaza from other [non-Rafah] crossings every day”.

Israeli settlers have destroyed solar equipment in Khirbet al-Farisiya, in the northern Jordan Valley, in the occupied West Bank.

Wafa news agency, citing local sources, reported that Israelis from illegal settlements stormed the village and vandalised then cut solar energy cables belonging to a Palestinian resident.

The northern Jordan Valley has witnessed a significant increase in settler attacks on Palestinians, including raiding their homes, intimidating and assaulting them, and destroying their property.

Farm owners have also been targeted in settler attacks.

According to the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, since October 7, 2023, settlers have carried out 7,154 attacks against Palestinians and their property, resulting in the deaths of 34 people.

Kaja Kallas has reiterated that the European Union is “ready to contribute” to Trump’s Gaza plan, including “stabilisation and reconstruction” efforts.

“The EU will continue to support the rapid, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid, working closely with the UN agencies and international NGOs, and in accordance with international law,” the top EU diplomat said in a statement.

The bloc will also “support the Palestinian Authority, including in its ongoing reform”, Kallas added.

Statement by @KajaKallas on behalf of the 🇪🇺 on the first phase of the Comprehensive Plan to end the Gaza Conflict

Read the full statement 👇

— EU Council Press (@EUCouncilPress) October 10, 2025

That’s according to Forensic Architecture, a research group at Goldsmiths, University of London, that has documented the devastation of Israel’s two-year assault on Gaza.

“Israel has successively occupied North Gaza, Rafah, and Khan Younis, sealing them off, and razing them to the ground,” the group said in a post.

“Any ceasefire must protect what remains of Gaza City, and dismantle the military corridors so that Palestinians can return to their land. Without support for Palestinian-led reconstruction, the genocide will continue.”

The world has witnessed two years of Israeli genocide: countless massacres, widespread displacement, engineered famine, and the annihilation of civic infrastructure. Israel has successively occupied North Gaza, Rafah, and Khan Younis, sealing them off, and razing them to the… pic.twitter.com/3HZuwZ5kXj

— Forensic Architecture (@ForensicArchi) October 10, 2025

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has called for all the crossings into the Strip to be opened to allow “a standard flow of humanitarian aid” to Palestinians in need.

“People are hungry and beyond exhausted from two years of war,” UNRWA said in a social media post.

Israel’s blockade on Gaza has plunged the territory into a massive humanitarian crisis, with famine reported in several areas and Palestinians dying of hunger.

Since the ceasefire deal was announced, the UN has called on the Israeli government to lift its restrictions and allow assistance to flow as per President Trump’s plan.

Demilitarisation and no role for Hamas and other factions in the future governance of Gaza. That is part of US president Donald Trump’s 20-point plan that led to the ceasefire deal.

So what is next for Palestinian resistance movements? Watch below:

Democratic Congresswoman Summer Lee has hailed the Gaza ceasefire as “a critical step to ending the genocide, surging aid, and reuniting Palestinian and Israeli families”.

“We owe it to every Palestinian killed, every home and hospital destroyed, to demand accountability for the war crimes committed, and we must keep pushing for an end to the occupation,” she wrote on X.

Recent public opinion polls in the US show a majority of Americans believe Israel has committed war crimes in Gaza, while a large proportion also said Israel is carrying out a genocide against Palestinians in the enclave.

Despite that, Washington has continued to provide billions of dollars in military aid to Israel.

The National Campaign for the Retrieval of Palestinian and Arab War Victims’ Corpses and the Disclosure of the Fate of the Missing said Israeli authorities are holding the bodies of 735 people in cemeteries and refrigerators.

The cemeteries are made up of mass graves marked with numbers rather than names, and some of the bodies have been there since the 1967 war.

It is widely known that Israel employs the practice as a tactic for leverage in negotiations. The practice has long pained Palestinian families, who sometimes have to wait decades before receiving the bodies of their loved ones.

Munir al-Barsh, director-general of Gaza’s Health Ministry, has described the “major challenges” facing the destroyed healthcare system in the Strip.

Al-Barsh told Al Jazeera that a little girl died today because of a lack of medical supplies, as aid has yet to reach the war-battered Palestinian enclave.

“Continuous supply convoys and the entry of specialised doctors into the sector are required. It is necessary to provide drinking water and bring generators to hospitals. The world must act quickly to deliver aid and medical supplies,” al-Barsh said.

He added that 10,000 people remain missing throughout Gaza, with many bodies still under the rubble. Al-Barsh also called for support for civil defence crews in searching for unexploded ordnance left by the Israeli army.

The Palestinian group is in contact with mediators about several leaders whom Israel has refused to free under the US-brokered truce deal, including Marwan Barghouti and Ahmad Saadat.

“The movement [Hamas] is insisting on their release and negotiations are still ongoing,” senior official Mousa Abu Marzouk told Al Jazeera TV network.

He said Israel turned down several other proposed names. When asked if those included Abdullah Barghouti, Hassan Salama, Ibrahim Hamed and Abbas al-Sayyed, he replied, “Yes. These are the most prominent names that the occupation always rejects.”

Marwan Barghouti, 66, is widely popular and considered a potentially unifying Palestinian political figure. He’s serving five life sentences in an Israeli jail.