Gaza Reporter

The war made nomads of Gaza's people. Today, they began the journey home. Hundreds of thousands walking north with bags, blankets and children. Whole lives piled teetering on carts and lorries. For 15 months, home was a place Gazans carried inside them. Whatever else they carried, whatever they lost. Rizek Al-Kassas was walking home slowly, at his infant granddaughter's pace.

Survivors, old and young.

More than half a million people were displaced from northern Gaza during the war, blocked from returning by Israeli forces, positioned along a strip of land dividing Gaza in two. Today, after Israel and Hamas agreed an additional prisoner exchange, those forces withdrew. In their place, familiar faces manned the crossing point, welcoming friends and relatives home.

But the home many returned to was rubble, a vast concrete desert, burying shops, businesses and homes.

Satellite images suggest three quarters of Gaza City's buildings have been damaged or destroyed. Hamas officials have called for 130,000 emergency tents to shelter people. Gaza's displaced, still homeless, even after coming home. This truce is slowly taking hold, but talks on extending it into a permanent ceasefire haven't yet begun.

The road back home is open for Gazans, but the path ahead is unclear.