With a ceasefire agreement pausing the war between Israel and Hamas, Israeli troops have withdrawn from Gaza city centers. For the first time in eight months, NPR got a glimpse of Rafah this week.

Even before the first phase is completed, the fragile cease-fire agreement that has paused 15 months of war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas faces increasingly long odds of lasting or even reaching phase two.

The scale of destruction in the northern Gaza strip could be seen from southern Israel on Saturday morning as Israel and Hamas are expected to swap more hostages for Palestinian prisoners.

Palestinians in Gaza are confronting an apocalyptic landscape of devastation after more than 15 months of fighting between Israel and Hamas. Mounds of rubble stretch as far as the eye can see in the tiny coastal enclave where built-up refugee camps are interspersed between cities.

I’d like him to take people. I’d like Egypt to take people,” said Trump. “You’re talking about, probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out

IDF Arabic spokesperson said that passage for Gazans to the northern part of the coastal enclave would remain closed after Hamas violated the ceasefire agreement by not releasing captive civilians

President Trump called for Egypt and Jordan to accept additional Palestinian refugees while suggesting a plan to "just clean out" Gaza.

During a 20-minute question-and-answer session with reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday, Trump also said he’s ended his predecessor’s hold on sending 2,000-pound bombs to Israel. That lifts a pressure point that had been meant to reduce civilian casualties during Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza that is now halted by a tenuous ceasefire.

Hamas militants have handed over four captive female Israeli soldiers to the Red Cross in Gaza City after parading them in front of a crowd.

Hundreds of Palestinians began gathering in Wadi Gaza on Saturday hoping to cross back to their homes into the northern part of the Strip. View on euronews

With the aim of preventing friction and misunderstanding in light of Hamas's breach of the ceasefire agreement,' the IDF Arabic spokesperson warned Gazans not to approach the Netzarim Corridor