Photos: Ceasefire in Gaza brings reunions amid devastation

By NPR Staff

Published October 16, 2025 at 2:19 AM ChST

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A bus carrying Palestinians released from Israeli prisons is greeted by a crowd outside the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, on Monday.

After two years of war between Israel and Hamas, a ceasefire largely continues to hold. The initial phase of the ceasefire plan brokered by President Trump saw Israeli forces pulling back to agreed-upon lines in Gaza and the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinians from Israeli prisons in exchange for the 20 remaining living Israeli hostages held by Hamas and several bodies of deceased hostages.

Here are photos showing scenes from recent days, in which Israelis and Palestinians celebrated the return of their loved ones, some humanitarian aid began entering the Gaza Strip and displaced Palestinians started to return to what remains of their homes.

Buses carrying Palestinians released from Israeli prisons under a Gaza ceasefire and hostage exchange deal with Palestinian factions arrive outside the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, on Monday.

A man holds a girl up to a bus carrying Palestinians released from Israeli prisons arrives outside the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, on Monday.

Zaid al-Junaidi, 49, reunites with his wife and children at their home in Hebron, West Bank, after he was released from an Israeli prison, on Tuesday. Al-Junaidi, who spent years in detention, embraces his family as they celebrate his return home.

People watch as a military helicopter carrying freed Israeli hostages arrives at Beilinson hospital in Petah Tikva, Israel, after they were released from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip, on Monday.

Rom Breslavski, an Israeli hostage released from the Gaza Strip, walks off a helicopter at the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel, on Monday.

People wave Israeli flags and a placard thanking President Trump as they watch a live broadcast of Israeli hostages released from Gaza at a plaza known as Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Monday. The release took place as part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

An aerial view of the Al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis, Gaza, where thousands of displaced Palestinians live in makeshift tents by the sea, after the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas on Tuesday.

A Palestinian woman cleans an area next to tents in Gaza City, on Tuesday.

Trucks loaded with humanitarian aid supplies arrive in Gaza through the Kissufim border crossing following the ceasefire agreement, on Tuesday.

A woman looks at pictures of people who were taken hostage during the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel, at "Hostages Square" in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Tuesday.

An Israeli woman who gives only her first name, Yaar, walks on Tuesday at the plaza known as Hostages Square in Tel Aviv. She is wrapped with an Israeli flag with a photo showing her friend Itay Chen, who was killed in the Hamas-led attack of Oct. 7, 2023.

People wave Israeli flags and spray foam in celebration after the arrival of freed hostages at Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva, Israel, following their release from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip on Monday.

A "Welcome Back Home" sign is seen in Habima Square on Tuesday in Tel Aviv, Israel. The sign was erected two days ago to replace the "Bring Them Home" sign, ahead of the ceasefire and hostage release.

Palestinians walk past a bulldozer deployed by the Gaza Municipality to clear building rubble from main streets in Gaza City, on Tuesday.

People watch as a truck carrying the bodies of Palestinians who had been held in Israel during the war arrives at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday.

A child sits on top of a vehicle loaded with belongings as displaced Palestinians return to their homes in the al-Zahra area, north of the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, on Tuesday.

Mourners walk near the car carrying the coffin of slain hostage Guy Illouz during his funeral procession in Rishon Lezion, Israel, on Wednesday. Illouz's remains were returned from Gaza to Israel as part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

Mourners walk near the car carrying the coffin of slain hostage Guy Illouz during his funeral procession in Rishon Lezion, Israel, on Wednesday.

Morgue workers unload the bodies of Palestinians who had been in Israeli custody, after they were transported by Red Crescent vehicles and refrigerated trucks to the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

Palestinians gather to receive food from a charity kitchen in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

Palestinians rush toward trucks carrying aid from the World Food Programme in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza on Wednesday.