-KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA STRIP, PALESTINE — OCT. 10, 2025: Thousands of Palestinians returned to their devastated homes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday, Oct. 10, after the Gaza ceasefire took effect. Israel announced on Friday that the ceasefire agreement came into effect at noon (0900GMT) today. “The ceasefire agreement came into effect at 12.00 pm Israel time. Starting at 12.00, army forces took up positions on the new operational deployment lines based on the ceasefire agreement and the return of the abductees,” the Israeli army said in a written statement sent to Anadolu. The Israeli army began its gradual troop withdrawal from the Gaza Strip on Friday and will complete its withdrawal to the locations specified in US President Donald Trump's plan to end the war on the Gaza Strip within 24 hours, according to Israeli media. Early Thursday morning, Trump announced that Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas had reached an agreement on the first phase of his ceasefire and prisoner exchange plan. The agreement came after four days of indirect negotiations between the two parties in the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh, with the participation of delegations from Türkiye, Egypt, and Qatar, under US supervision. Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed nearly 67,200 Palestinians in the enclave, most of them women and children, and rendered it uninhabitable.