Gazans return to homes in ruins and begin clearing rubble as tenuous ceasefire holds

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• Amna Nawaz:

  Today, President Trump's Middle East envoy said he would soon travel to the Middle East and be part of a team of — quote — "outside observers," situated both inside and along the Gaza Strip to ensure safety during the days-old cease-fire between Hamas and Israel.

  Nick Schifrin takes a look now at the relative quiet in Gaza and what Palestinians are finding as they return home.

• Nick Schifrin:

  Today in Rafah, the damage and destruction is apocalyptic, a gray ghost town of dust and debris, structures flattened into pancakes, buildings obliterated or blown into carcasses.

  Gaza City used to be one of the most densely populated spots on the planet, population more than half-a-million, today, stripped of green, a shell of what it used to be. In South Gaza, amidst the displaced, diggers, the first step to clearing the rubble, so families can return home, like the Siam family, who we filmed today arriving for the first time to their home in Rafah turned into a mountain of ruins.

  They salvaged what survived, a wooden chair, a single mattress, books amid the debris. They left this home intact eight months ago. Today, 50-year-old Lutfi Siam called the destruction worse than a nightmare.

• Lutfi Siam, Displaced Rafah Resident (through interpreter):

  When we came here today, we were expecting to find something from our homes, but we were honestly surprised. It's an area that's been completely destroyed. If you pan the camera around, you will see something that is unfathomable to the human mind.

• Nick Schifrin:

  In this West Rafah neighborhood, it appears no structure still stands. And yet they smile and embrace, even if their future is uncertain.

• Lutfi Siam (through interpreter):

  Today, we're living in indescribable times. We have no idea what is next for us. We don't know how we will live or rebuild. We don't know.

• Nick Schifrin:

  Israel says Hamas used Rafah as one of its bases of operations, with hundreds of tunnels beneath the homes. Boys who have been displaced for months try to be boys, but are confronted with their former homes, their former neighborhoods, their former blocks left uninhabitable.

  Israel's air campaign was one of the largest ever in modern warfare against an enemy embed in civilian infrastructure, which today is crushed. Right near the coast, we found the Zoroub family house, where the walls have become windows and debris fills the floor and as far as the eye can see.

• Samah Zoroub, Displaced Rafah Resident (through interpreter):

  What am I going to recover? Look, I can't recover anything. It's all ruined, full of soot. Let's not kid ourselves. Look what happened to us. Look around.

• Nick Schifrin:

  And when you look around, Hamas is back. Residents say they're providing security, even overseeing the removal of rubble. These men either fought or hid during the fighting and have now dusted off their uniforms.

  If Israel's goal was to eliminate the group entirely, that goal has not been met, which is why far right Finance Minister Smotrich vows to bring down the coalition government unless Israel resumes the war after the six-week cease-fire.

• Bezlel Smotrich, Israeli Finance Minister (through interpreter):

  We will be glad and emotional for the return of some of our hostages, but we will remember the hard war that awaits us after that to go back and fight until victory.

• Question:

  How confident are you, Mr. President, that you can keep the cease-fire in Gaza and conclude the three phases of this deal?

  Donald Trump, President of the United States: I'm not confident. It's not our war. It's their war, but I'm not confident.

• Nick Schifrin:

  On Monday night, President Trump doubted the cease-fire's longevity, but also imagined Gaza as an opportunity for investment.

• Donald Trump:

  You know, Gaza's interesting. It's a phenomenal location, on the sea, the best weather. Everything's good. It's like — some beautiful things could be done with it.

• Nick Schifrin:

  Palestinians we spoke to urged Trump to push Israel to extend the cease-fire.

• Ramez Gendia, Displaced Gazan (through interpreter):

  My message to Trump is a big one. We want peace and we don't care about anything else. That's it. Enough war. Enough war.

• Nick Schifrin:

  The war's pause has allowed a surge of aid. The U.S. says more than 2,400 trucks have entered Gaza since the cease-fire began Sunday morning. But there is a long way before Gazans' hunger can be satisfied.

  Until then, Zaher Abu Faraya sits scarred by the schism this war wrought. His granddaughter is more willing than he to save memories of a life displaced.

• Zaher Abu Faraya, Displaced Gazan (through interpreter):

  We hope to God that the truth will be the opening of the door to goodness with security and peace of mind, and that we will return to rebuild our homes and live a human life after the suffering we have seen and the pain we have lived.

• Nick Schifrin:

  And after the suffering and pain, there is a desperate hope that the fire will not return.

  For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Nick Schifrin.

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