Thousands of displaced Palestinians returned to a devastated Gaza City on Saturday, the second day of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, with many stunned by the destruction even as others were relieved to find their homes still standing.

Israel agreed to the truce on Friday and pulled back troops from several areas of the territory, prompting long columns of exhausted residents to set off for the north along a coastal road.

Taking advantage of the ceasefire, Raja Salmi walked back to her home in Gaza City, where weeks of Israeli bombardment and ground operations had targeted areas said to harbour thousands of Hamas fighters.

"We walked for hours, and every step was filled with fear and anxiety for my home," Salmi told AFP.

When she reached the Al-Rimal neighbourhood, she found her house destroyed.

"It no longer exists. It's just a pile of rubble," she said. "I stood before it and cried. All those memories are now just dust."

The flow of returnees continues, with around 50,000 people arriving in Gaza City on Saturday, according to the civil defence agency, a rescue service operating under Hamas authority.

"This brings the total number of returnees to Gaza since yesterday to around 250,000 so far," said Mohammed Al-Mughayyir, an........

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