Palestinians in Gaza are confronting an apocalyptic landscape of devastation after more than 15 months of fighting between Israel and Hamas

The Israel-Hamas war, now nearing a potential ceasefire, has devastated the Gaza Strip. Satellite photos offer some sense of the destruction in the territory, which has been largely sealed off to journalists and others.

The Biden administration called for a final push before the president leaves office, with many seeing the Trump inauguration as an unofficial deadline.

In the days since a fragile ceasefire took hold in the Gaza Strip, Israel has launched a major military operation in the occupied West Bank and suspected Jewish settlers have rampaged through two Palestinian towns.

Fighters from the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, control the crowd while Red Cross vehicles come to collect Israeli hostages to be released under a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Abed Hajjar, File)

Palestinians celebrated on the streets of Gaza as guns fell silent. Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv’s “Hostages Square” to watch news of the returnees.

“They’re returning to retrieve their loved ones under the rubble,” said Mohamed Mahdi, a displaced Palestinian and father of two. He was forced to leave his three-story home in Gaza City’s southeastern Zaytoun neighborhood a few months ago,

Israel launched a major military operation Tuesday in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin that killed at least nine Palestinians and left at least 40 more people wounded, Palestinian health officials said,

Once the guns fell silent, Palestinians celebrated in the streets of Gaza while Israelis streamed into Tel Aviv’s “Hostages Square” to await their return.

To better understand what the cease-fire will mean for the Israelis, the Palestinians, and the Middle East, Foreign Affairs turned to Marc Lynch, a professor of political science at George Washington University and the director of its Middle East Studies program.

A ceasefire deal for Gaza is expected by Thursday, "at the latest" reports from both Israeli and Palestinian sources have stated.