Tens of thousands of Palestinians were jubilant to be returning home but fear what might remain of their homes.

The images from the territory, largely sealed off to journalists and others, have helped relief agencies and experts make estimates regarding the extent of the damage.

On Thursday, laws passed by Israel in October come into effect banning the UN's Palestinian refugee agency, known as UNRWA, from Israeli territory and prohibiting Israeli officials from any contact with the agency.

Newsweek has reached out to the Jerusalem Municipality for comment via email. The arrests highlight the ongoing tensions between Israel and Palestinians, especially in light of the ceasefire that ended a major conflict.

Tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem were set to lose education, healthcare and other services provided by U.N. agency UNRWA as an Israeli ban on the organisation takes effect on Thursday.

Israel says it has killed thousands of the armed group’s members and destroyed much of its infrastructure, but since the cease-fire started Hamas has shown it still holds power in the enclave.

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.

For hours, the demonstrators, some teenagers, disrupted traffic in Jerusalem. They threw rocks ... a resident of Gaza City displaced in southern Gaza, said, with jubilant whistling in the background.

The historic return of Palestinians, after 15 months of Israeli devastation, marks the triumph of the human spirit over organised oppression

Hamas militants have handed over four captive female Israeli soldiers to the Red Cross in Gaza City after parading them in front of a crowd

Hamas militants on Saturday handed over to the Red Cross four Israeli women hostages under a truce deal in the Gaza war that is also expected to see a second