Palestinians return to ruins and US troops land in Israel amid plea over aid

A displaced Palestinian boy pulls a cart loaded with belongings as he walks along the heavily damaged Al-Jalaa Street in Gaza City (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP)

Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have loaded cars, carts and bicycles with belongings and made their way back to their neighbourhoods, weaving through streets shrouded in dust as bulldozers began to claw through the wreckage of two years of bombardment.

Aid groups urged Israel to reopen more crossings to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, and about 200 US troops arrived in Israel to help retrieve hostages and monitor the ceasefire with Hamas.