Hamas gathering hostages 'now', claims Trump, as thousands of Palestinians make way to north of Gaza
Thousands of Palestinians were seen making their way to the north of Gaza, after Israeli forces said they had pulled back to a position within the territory agreed upon in the deal
Israel says it has partially withdrawn troops from parts of Gaza after the ceasefire agreement came into effect on Friday morning
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Thousands of Palestinians were seen making their way to the north of Gaza, as Israeli forces said they had pulled back to a positions within the territory agreed upon in Donald Trump's deal.
After two years of war and bombardment by Israel, they are returning to widespread destruction.
Satellite imagery analysis released earlier this month from researchers at Oregon State University, said 198,883 buildings in the Gaza Strip are thought to have been damaged since the start of the war.
IDF troops still occupy half of the Strip.
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It comes after both Israel and Hamas approved the first phase of the US president's ceasefire and hostage return deal on Thursday.
The next phases are still being negotiated, but Hamas has until 12pm local time on Monday to release all Israeli hostages - including 20 who are believed to be alive.
On Friday President Trump said that Hamas is gathering the Israeli hostages due to be released "now", adding that he's confident the Gaza deal he helped broker will "hold".
Israel is also expected to release 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences in its jails.
According to Israeli army radio, 100 will be released into the West Bank and five to East Jerusalem, with the rest expected to be deported.
A further 1,700 Palestinians from Gaza who have been detained are also expected to be released.
Aid lorries will be allowed unrestricted access into the Strip under the terms of the deal to provide food and supplies to Palestinians - many of whom have been repeatedly displaced during the two-year war.
Details of the rollout remain unclear, but around 600 aid lorries are expected to enter Gaza daily.
It has not been confirmed whether any additional aid has reached people since the ceasefire began.
A famine was declared in Gaza by UN-backed experts back in August, who said more than 500,000 people were facing "catastrophic" conditions characterised by "starvation, destitution and death".
According to a senior US official, a multinational force of some 200 troops overseen by the US military will be deployed to Israel to help monitor the Gaza ceasefire.
Made up of troops from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the UAE, the force's role will be to “oversee, observe [and] make sure there are no violations or incursions” of the ceasefire in Gaza, the official said.
Troops had reportedly been pulled back from the north-western outskirts of Gaza City towards the east, also retreating to the Khan Younis area in the south.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its troops "began positioning themselves along the updated deployment lines" from 12:00 local time.
"IDF troops in the Southern Command are deployed in the area and will continue to remove any immediate threat," the IDF said in a statement on social media.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed IDF troops had withdrawn to what he referred to as the "yellow line".
The line, first seen on a map released by the White House last week, marks where troops will withdraw to during the first phase, where it will control 53 per cent of Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address he was "fulfilling" the promise to bring back all the hostages.
The Hamas-run health ministry said 17 people had been killed in the past 24 hours, as the IDF urged people to avoid entering areas still under Israeli military control.
Mahmud Bassal, a spokesman for the Gaza civil defence agency, said later on Friday that "approximately 200,000 people returned to northern Gaza today,"
Hamas will have no future role in Gaza under Trump's 20-point peace plan.
Instead it will be governed by a temporary transitional body of Palestinian technocrats supervised by a "Board of Peace" headed and chaired by Donald Trump and involving former UK prime minister Tony Blair.
Governance of the Strip would eventually be handed over to the Palestinian Authority (PA).
In the meantime, aid agencies have warned that essential supplies like food, fuel and clean water remain critically scarce.
Gaza's civil defence crews have also been seen recovering bodies from beneath the ruins in the region.
UN experts have accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza during the course of the war - something Israel has categorically rejected.