The fragile ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas was to some extent overshadowed last week by the return of Donald Trump in the US. But the two stories are now beginning to conflate more ominously.
After a second round of Israeli hostage returns and Palestinian prisoner releases, Israel on Monday reopened the military checkpoints that divide north and south Gaza.
At the same time, Trump’s startling proposal of “cleaning out” Gaza sent ripples around the region, not least among Palestinians themselves and the neighbouring countries that the US president thinks ought to provide their new home.
Following the reopening of the checkpoints – and as shown on the cover of this week’s Guardian Weekly magazine – hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians finally began the long walk back to their homes. Many knew they would return to nothing more than ruins but, as Emma Graham-Harrison reports, wanted to pitch tents on their own land after months shifting between camps in the south of the territory.
From Israel, meanwhile, Bethan McKernan reports on the joy and relief felt by four released female soldiers and their families, as well as those grappling with the despair of knowing that their loved ones are not among those scheduled for release.
And, as an Israeli ban on the aid agency Unrwa is due to come into force this week, Patrick Wintour looks at what it could mean for Gaza.
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Five essential reads in this week’s edition
Spotlight | Trump’s big bang theory
In his first week, the new US president set out a radical agenda at dizzying pace – but will it work? Washington bureau chief David Smith takes stock
Science | Frozen in time
In Antarctica, scientists have been unlocking climate secrets by drilling deep into some of the world’s oldest ice reserves. Donna Lu reports
Feature | Reading the last rites for handwriting
These days, we are far more likely to use our hands to type or swipe than pick up a pen. But in the process are we in danger of losing cognitive skills, sensory experience and a connection to history? By Christine Rosen
Opinion | Davos billionaires’ naked self-interest is now laid bare
What’s the point of the annual gathering of elites in Switzerland when even the rich are fed up with the super-rich, asks Zoe Williams
Culture | An awesome wave
Hokusai’s Great Wave is one of the most reproduced images in the history of art, adorning everything from tea towels to teddy bears. Paula Cocozza wonders what’s behind the print’s popularity
What else we’ve been reading
Andrey Kurkov’s occasional columns are beautiful dispatches from Ukraine of life in wartime. “We do not know what will come first: peace or spring. But we know that the spring will definitely come,” he wrote last week as he explained why his wife had planted tulip bulbs in the autumn despite the conflict. Quiet signs of hope and defiance in spite of what lies beyond your garden. Isobel Montgomery, deputy editor
Other highlights from the Guardian website
Audio | Where did our attention spans go, and can we get them back? – podcast
Video | Anywhere but Westminster: Do Trump’s politics connect in these English towns?
Gallery | Images from Holocaust Remembrance Day 2025
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