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.

Thirteen-year-old Zakariya Barbakh had spent most of his life shuffling between hospitals across Gaza, the occupied West Bank and Israel.

The first week of the latest ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas militant group is complete. Hamas has begun to release hostages and Israel has freed nearly 300 Palestinian prisoners. But the deal has hit its first major complication.

The initial ceasefire plan, announced in late November, brought an end to 14 months of conflict between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. Brokered by the US and France, the agreement gave Hezbollah 60 days to end its armed presence in southern Lebanon and required Israeli forces to withdraw over the same period.

The fragility of the truce between Israel and Hamas was laid bare on Saturday, after Israel accused Hamas of withholding a hostage, prompting a halt in the movement of Gazan civilians back to their homes in the north.

Thousands of Palestinians head on foot to what is left of their homes after 15 months of war and forced displacement.

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

Israel on Monday began permitting thousands of Palestinians to return to the devastated northern Gaza Strip for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas. The move comes as part of a fragile ceasefire agreement currently in place.

Trump says he wants to ‘clean out’ Gaza as he restarts policy to give Israel new bombs - Trump has built his political career around being unapologetically pro-Israel

Endre Simo argued that Ukraine, Russia, and other European nations, including Hungary, require a sustainable peace founded on mutual security guarantees rather than a ceasefire, frozen conflict, or "b