Displaced Gazans begin returning to shattered communities as ceasefire takes effect

Geoff Bennett:

For the first time in more than six months, the guns have gone silent in Gaza. And Palestinians and Israelis are saying tonight they hope this cease-fire will prove to be the end of the war. Israeli troops repositioned inside Gaza and are preparing for Hamas to release the Israeli hostages promised for early next week.

And, as Nick Schifrin reports, Palestinians used the respite from relentless bombing to start picking up the pieces.

Nick Schifrin:

On Gaza's coastal road today, it's time to go home, even if their destination is beyond recognition. Tens of thousands all displaced multiple times for two years headed north to Gaza City as the cease-fire took effect.

Mouhamed Dawla, Displaced Palestinian (through interpreter):

God willing, this will be the last war we see. There's nothing left of us.

Nick Schifrin:

They walked, rolled, were pulled, traveled by any means necessary, hoping that they were driving toward peace.

Mouhamed Dawla (through interpreter):

Praise be to God. I'm very happy to have returned to my land and my home, even though it's been bombed and destroyed.

Nick Schifrin:

Not just homes have been destroyed, entire neighborhoods, in some cases entire cities, what used to be a residential street in Khan Yunis now just rubble.

Tamam Radwan, Khan Yunis Resident (through interpreter):

The situation is tragic. There are no houses. There are no streets. No cars are able to enter. For those who are going back, what are they supposed to find? There is nothing. There is no life. But it's better if they build a tent on the ruins than stay away from their land.

Nick Schifrin:

The Israel Defense Forces says it's completed its withdrawal to the yellow line shown here. They will still control 53 percent of the Gaza Strip. The tanks that had threatened to help seize Gaza City withdrew. But the military warned Gazans not to approach Israeli soldiers and claimed victory over Hamas.

Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, Israeli Defense Forces Spokesperson (through interpreter):

Hamas today is not the Hamas of two years ago. Hamas has been defeated everywhere we fought them. We are in a completely different place now. The IDF has deployed deep inside the Gaza Strip.

Nick Schifrin:

But, as of now, Hamas has not agreed to demilitarize. That challenge has been left to the negotiations' phase two. And if Hamas refuses, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today threatened more war.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister (through interpreter):

If this can be achieved the easy way, very well. If not, it will be achieved the hard way.

Nick Schifrin:

And now that the Israelis have moved to that yellow line, the 72-hour countdown has begun for Hamas to release all the Israeli hostages, 48 in total, 20 believed to be alive, now scheduled, Geoff, for Monday.

Geoff Bennett:

And, Nick, you have been speaking today with U.S. officials about how the U.S. military will help guarantee this cease-fire. What have you learned?

Nick Schifrin:

Yes, so a U.S. official provides more details of what we first reported last night from senior administration officials; 200 personnel from the military's Central Command, CENTCOM, will arrive by Sunday to create the civil-military coordination center.

These are experts in planning, logistics, transportation, security, and engineering. They're going to be doing a few things, one, make sure that humanitarian aid is able to flow and surge into Gaza. They're going to monitor the cease-fire. What does that mean? That means U.S. troops alongside what a separate senior administration official identified as troops from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and possibly the UAE.

They're going to work with the U.N. They're going to work with NGOs who are inside of Gaza to try and make sure what's happening in Gaza adheres to the rules of this phase one deal. And then eventually those troops from those other countries will actually replace the IDF in Gaza and become the international security force inside of Gaza trying to provide security, verify demilitarization, and create some kind of new civilian governance.

But the big caveat, of course, is that all of that is in phase two. That's very far from now. But also no country individually has actually pledged to send troops into Gaza yet, so it's all very much TBD.

Geoff Bennett:

And how did U.S. officials describe that plan as helping seal the deal for phase one?

Nick Schifrin:

Yes, this is really interesting.

So, last night, those two senior administration officials told reporters on the call that President Trump basically personally guaranteed to Hamas that the war would not restart and that they used — that he used, rather, this U.S. military presence in Israel as a way to guarantee that the U.S. would make sure Israel would not restart the war.

These officials also said that the presence of Admiral Brad Cooper — that is the Central Command commander, the CENTCOM commander — in these talks, that helped Arab mediators convince Hamas the U.S. would ensure that Israel stuck to the cease-fire.

And here's another moment that they said helped lead to the deal. That strike right there, that was Israel's failed attack in early September on senior Hamas political leaders in Doha. The senior administration official said it caused — quote — "a lot of angst in the Arab world" and — quote — "There was a sense it shouldn't happen."

And so, a few weeks later, this scene. President Trump pushed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office to call Qatar's prime minister and apologize — quote — "That got us leverage," the administration official said.

And so here we are, waiting for phase one. Officials I speak to say they are worried about the next few days. They're worried that Hamas does not fully control all of the fighters and there could be an attack in Gaza or in Israel. And they're worried about how Israel would respond, let alone worried about that phase two concerns and what Netanyahu said about the war restarting if Hamas doesn't demilitarize.

But, bottom line, Geoff, certainly, on both sides, Israelis and Palestinians tonight hoping the cease-fire holds and this is the end of the war.

Geoff Bennett:

Nick Schifrin, grateful, as always, for your reporting, this past week in particular. Thank you.

Nick Schifrin:

Thanks, Geoff.