Crowds of displaced Palestinians made the arduous journey back to heavily destroyed northern Gaza for a second day Tuesday, under a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Israel let tens of thousands of Palestinians go back to northern Gaza for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month war with Hamas​, under terms of a fragile ceasefire​.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians started to return to their homes in the northern part of the devastated Gaza Strip on Monday after 15 months of forced displacement. The return followed an announcement by Qatar on Sunday evening that Hamas and Israel had reached an agreement to release Israeli hostage Arbel Yehud and two others by Friday.

Many residents of northern Gaza and southern Lebanon are expected to return to their homes in the coming days and weeks, with most of the fighting in both areas paused under Israeli ceasefire agreements with both Hamas and Hezbollah.

Israel has begun allowing Palestinians to return to the heavily destroyed north of the Gaza Strip for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month war with Hamas, in accordance with a fragile ceasefire.

Israel on Monday began allowing Palestinians to return to the heavily destroyed north of the Gaza Strip for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month war with Hamas, in accordance with a fragile ceasefire.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says U.S. President Donald Trump has invited him to visit the White House on Feb. 4. This will make Netanyahu the first foreign leader to visit Washington in Trump’s second term.