Palestinians in Gaza are confronting an apocalyptic landscape of devastation after a ceasefire paused more than 15 months of fighting between Israel and Hamas.

Rafah was home to over a million Palestinians displaced from the Israel-Hamas war. Now, Palestinians in Gaza wade through rubble to see what remains.

Israel has confirmed it will maintain control of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip in phase one of its ceasefire deal with Hamas.

Throughout the war, the Israeli military had barred Palestinians from returning to the north by severing Gaza along the Netzarim corridor, a belt that runs east to west across the strip where troops cleared out the Palestinian population and set up bases.

While some Palestinians were able to dig up miscellaneous items deep under the rubble, many felt hopeless after dreaming about the possibility of returning to their homes and repairing or rebuilding them.

Israel has confirmed that it will maintain control over the Rafah border crossing, the key passage between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli delegation includes officials from the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad and Shin Bet security agency, the sources told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Israel will maintain control of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza during the initial ceasefire phase with Hamas. The Palestinian Authority will not manage the crossing, and vetted Palestinians will stamp passports.

Were it just about any other country than Israel committing such a genocide, Washington would have cut off arms shipments months ago.

Israeli officials attempted to downplay reports of the Palestinian Authorities’ role in Gaza and the possibility of a two-state solution that would help normalize relations with Saudi Arabia.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Three hostages released from Gaza are now in Israel in the first test of a fragile ceasefire with Hamas. The three hostages are Romi Gonen, 24, kidnapped from the Nova music festival, and Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza.