Tens of thousands of Palestinians streamed into the most heavily destroyed part of the Gaza Strip on Monday as Israel lifted its closure of the north for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month war with Hamas in accordance with a fragile ceasefire.

Experts discuss how long rebuilding Gaza's $18.5 billion of damaged infrastructure could take after 15 months of conflict.

A mass of people, some holding infants in their arms or carrying bundles of belongings on their shoulders, headed north on foot.

With a ceasefire agreement pausing the war between Israel and Hamas, Israeli troops have withdrawn from Gaza city centers.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.

Hamas released four female Israeli hostages on Saturday, in a second round of exchanges between Israel and Hamas which also saw around 200 Palestinian prisoners released from detention.

An unending stream of people marched up the coast of Gaza on Monday, carrying their belongings in plastic bags and repurposed flour sacks through the central city of Nuseirat after Israel reopened access to the territory's north.

Any prolonged Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon could breathe new life into Hezbollah, a group that was founded to liberate Lebanon from Israeli occupation and has portrayed itself as the only force capable of protecting Lebanon’s borders,

A ceasefire between Hamas and Israel does not signal an end to all hostilities in the region, as Israeli forces continue operations in the West Bank. Operation Iron Wall, launched earlier this week, is Israel's effort to eliminate terrorism,

Israel is allowing Palestinians to return to the heavily destroyed north of the Gaza Strip for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month war with Hamas, in accordance with a fragile ceasefi

Some troops had been expected to withdraw to allow hundreds of thousands of displaced Gazans to go home. But Israel said the hostage exchange before that step had not gone as agreed. Hamas accused Israel of stalling.

Palestinians trying to return to northern Gaza were stranded on two highways in a standoff that threatened to undo the shaky peace between Israel and Hamas.