Image Credit: BASHAR TALEB / Contributor / Getty Images 
Palestinians have begun returning to their homes in the Gaza Strip as the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas takes effect.
Gazans re-entering the territory after more than two years of war were greeted with widespread destruction.
“Gaza is completely destroyed. I have no idea where we should live or where to go,” said Mahmoud al-Shandoghli, a resident of Gaza City.
The UN has estimated that 75% of all buildings in Gaza have been destroyed.
In February, the EU and World Bank placed the cost of the damage to Gaza at $49 billion, with $16 billion of that cost being directly related to housing.
Under his new peace plan, President Trump has vowed to transform Gaza.
“We’re going to create something where people can live,” Trump said during a cabinet meeting on Thursday.
“You can’t live right now in Gaza, you know, the place is, it’s a horrible situation. Nobody’s ever seen anything like it. So, yeah, we’re going to create better conditions for people.”
President Trump is due to travel to the Middle East today to discuss further details of the peace plan with regional leaders.
Israel has now withdrawn to the agreed-upon line, relinquishing control of a little less than 50% of the territory.
Israel and Hamas will now perform a prisoner exchange. All remaining hostages, alive and dead, will be returned to Israel, and Israel will release more than 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including hundreds currently serving life sentences.
About 200 US troops have now arrived in Israel to monitor the ceasefire situation, establish a center to regulate the flow of humanitarian aid and provide logistical and security support.
“No U.S. troops are intended to go into Gaza,” a U.S. Central Command official said.
“It’s really just to help create the joint control center and then integrate all the other security forces that will be going in there to de-conflict with [Israel Defense Forces], and then to build the right force structure that’s able to handle the missions as they are defined.”
On Friday, more than 500 aid trucks crossed into Gaza. Close to 170,000 metric tons of food aid are still waiting in neighboring countries for Israel’s permission to enter the enclave.
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