Gazans' joy tempered by shock as they eye remnants of homes after ceasefire

CAIRO/GAZA (Reuters) -As thousands of Gazans began picking through the ruins of their shattered homes on Friday after a ceasefire deal, the excitement of return was quickly tempered by shock at the depth of the destruction and anxiety over the hardships ahead. The announcement that the U.S.-brokered accord had gone into effect sent thousands of Palestinians pouring up the Gaza Strip’s coastal road by foot, bicycle, truck and donkey cart toward the largely devastated north. Essentially all of Gaza’s 2.2 million population was displaced during two years of unrelenting war that has killed tens of thousands of people and reduced huge swathes of the enclave to ruins.