Many joyful but wary Palestinians emerged from makeshift shelters at the start of the four-day Gaza ceasefire on Friday to begin the long journey back to their homes.

In the southern town of Khan Younis, which has been housing thousands of displaced families including from heavily bombarded northern Gaza, streets were packed with people on the move.

Hundreds were heading towards the north, despite Israel dropping leaflets warning them not to go back to an area it described as still being a dangerous war zone.

Men, women and children carried their belongings in plastic bags, shopping bags and rucksacks. One family sat on the back of a cart piled high with bags and pulled by a donkey.

Some people looked up to the sky as if to check they were not in danger of attack from Israeli warplanes.

“I am now very happy, I feel at ease,” said Ahmad Wael, trudging along with a large mattress on his head.

“I am going back to my home, our hearts are rested, especially since there is a four-day official ceasefire, better than returning to live in tents. I am very tired from sitting there, without any food or water. There (at home) we can live, we drink tea, make bread using fire, and the oven.”

The UN says around two-thirds of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents are homeless, including most of the population of Gaza City and the rest of the northern half of the enclave, reduced to a wasteland by Israel’s assault. Khan Younis, the main city in the south, has also not proved safe.

Reuters