Tens of thousands of Palestinians filled the main roads leading north in Gaza on Monday. They were excited to return home after months spent in temporary shelters, but they also feared what remained of their homes amid the bombed ruins.
Their return had been delayed over the weekend. However, it proceeded after Hamas agreed to release three Israeli hostages this week, and Israeli forces began to withdraw from a key corridor in the enclave as part of a ceasefire agreement in the ongoing 15-month war.
In Israel, families of hostages awaited news about their loved ones.
Along a road by Gaza’s Mediterranean shore, a large crowd formed. Some people held infants in their arms, while others carried bundles of belongings on their shoulders as they walked north on foot.
“It’s like I was born again and we were victorious again,” said Umm Mohammed Ali, a Palestinian mother who joined the miles-long throng moving slowly along the coastal road.
Witnesses reported that the first residents arrived in Gaza City early in the morning when the first crossing point in central Gaza opened at 7:00 a.m. (0500 GMT). Another crossing opened about three hours later, allowing vehicles to enter.
“My heart is beating. I thought I would never come back,” said Osama, 50, a public servant and father of five, as he reached Gaza City.
“Whether the ceasefire succeeds or not, we will never leave Gaza City and the north again, even if Israel sends a tank for each one of us. No more displacement.”
Families who had been repeatedly displaced after more than 15 months of war erupted in cheers at shelters and tent encampments when they learned the crossings would open.
“No sleep, I have everything packed and ready to go with the first light of day,” said Ghada, a mother of five.
“At least we are going back home. Now I can say war is over, and I hope it will stay calm,” she told Reuters via a chat app.
Children in warm jackets carried backpacks and walked hand in hand. Men pushed elderly family members in wheelchairs, while families posed for photos as Hamas officials in red vests directed them along the road.
Despite the ceasefire agreement, Palestinian hospital officials reported that an Israeli missile killed a bulldozer driver along the coastal road west of Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip. There was no immediate comment from Israel.
The Israeli military stated that it “precisely” operated against suspects who posed a threat to troops in the Gaza Strip.
They added that an IDF aircraft fired to distance several suspicious vehicles moving northward in an area not authorized for passage according to the agreement and without inspection, which violated the terms of the agreement.
DEVASTATION
Around 650,000 Palestinians were displaced from northern Gaza during the war. This conflict began with Hamas’ assault on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people and the abduction of 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. The Gaza health ministry reported that more than 47,000 Palestinians have since died due to the Israeli assault on Gaza.
Later on Monday, Gaza’s Hamas authorities announced that over 300,000 people had crossed into Gaza City and the northern edge of the enclave.
Many displaced individuals had to move multiple times as Israel designated parts of Gaza as humanitarian zones, only to clear them out before launching bombardments and ground operations.
Much of Gaza now lies in ruins. The Hamas-run Gaza government media office stated that returnees to the north need at least 135,000 tents and shelters as they attempt to rebuild their lives in the rubble-strewn landscape of their former homes.
HOPE AND FEAR
Under the terms of the ceasefire agreement, residents of northern Gaza were supposed to return over the weekend. However, Israel claimed that Hamas violated the deal by failing to release civilian female hostage Arbel Yehud and by keeping its forces in the Netzarim corridor, which cuts across the enclave south of Gaza City.
Late on Sunday, Qatari mediators resolved the dispute after Hamas agreed to release Yehud, along with female soldier Agam Berger and another hostage on Thursday, before the next scheduled release of three more hostages on Saturday. Israel then approved the return to north Gaza starting Monday morning.
The armed wing of the Islamic Jihad group, an ally of Hamas, published a video on Monday showing Yehud alive.
Hamas also provided a list of all hostages to be released during the first six-week phase of the ceasefire agreement, detailing their condition.
On Monday, a Hamas official told Reuters that the group had given mediators a list indicating that 25 of the 33 hostages scheduled for release in the first phase are alive. This number includes the seven hostages released since the truce began on January 19.
Israel confirmed the Hamas figures, stating that 25 are alive, but eight were killed by Hamas.
The identities of those who were dead and those who were alive were not immediately confirmed, leaving families in a state of hope and dread.
Israeli authorities have expressed grave concerns about the lives of Shiri Bibas and her two sons, who were aged 4 years and 10 months when they were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz.
Her sister-in-law, Ofri Bibas, shared that the past few weeks have been agonizing for the family. Shiri’s husband, Yarden Bibas, is also a hostage in Gaza but was taken separately from his family.
“We are waiting, amid a sea of rumours,” Ofri Bibas told Israel’s Public Broadcaster Kan. “We have no certainty and we are still clutching on to hope, hoping to see them here, together with Yarden.”
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