Thousands of people poured onto the streets of Gaza, leaving battered displacement camps to see what was left of their homes.

Even before the ceasefire officially began, convoys headed north to the areas of the Strip that have been off-limits for much of the 15 months of war.

Some walked with bags slung over their shoulders, while others piled their possessions on horse-drawn carts. White pick-up trucks presumed to belong to Hamas appeared too among the melee, while Hamas ‘police officers’ with crisp clean uniforms appeared on street corners.

Civilians moving north arrived to find heaps of rubble and skeletons of former apartment blocks where cities once bustled.

Many filmed the extraordinary scenes on their phones.