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.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians streamed into northern Gaza on Monday after Israel lifted its closure of the north for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month war with Hamas.

Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians returning to their homes in northern Gaza have passed through checkpoints in a central zone of the enclave where scanners check for concealed weapons being taken in cars and vehicles.

Large numbers of Palestinians headed to the north of the Gaza Strip for the first time in months after Israel withdrew part of its troops from the Netzarim corridor as part of a cease-fire agreement.

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​.

Asked for a reaction to Trump's comments, a foreign ministry spokesperson said Berlin shared the view of "the European Union, our Arab partners, the United Nations ... that the Palestinian population must not be expelled from Gaza and Gaza must not be permanently occupied or recolonised by Israel."

President Donald Trump says he is talking with Egypt and Jordan to move Palestinians out of Gaza and "clean out" the territory.

Israeli troops pull back but maintain a watchful eye on the tens of thousands of Gazans who had been displaced during the 15 months of fighting.

President Donald Trump indicated on Saturday that he had discussed with King Abdullah II of Jordan the possibility of relocating over a million Palestinians from Gaza to neighboring countries, marking a significant and controversial proposal from a sitting U.

Through economic coercion and sharp rhetoric, Trump is signaling that he intends to be a bull in the China shop in hopes of extracting what he wants from allies and adversaries alike.

This is a collection of photos chosen by AP photo editors.