Key Points
- Palestinians return to northern Gaza, relieved yet wary amid widespread destruction.
- The ceasefire allowed displaced families to return after Hamas agreed to release Israeli hostages.
- Gaza's ruins pose rebuilding challenges as residents vow never to leave the north again.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have streamed along the main roads leading north in the Gaza Strip, jubilant to be returning home after months of living in temporary shelter but fearing what might remain of their homes amid the .
Their return, which had been delayed at the weekend, went ahead after Hamas agreed to hand over three later this week and Israeli forces began to withdraw from a main corridor across the enclave under the terms of an agreement on a ceasefire in the 15-month-long war.
In Israel, families of hostages waited anxiously for news of the fate of their loved ones.
Along a road running by Gaza's Mediterranean shore, a mass of people, some holding infants in their arms or carrying bundles of belongings on their shoulders, trekked north on foot.
"It's like I was born again and we were victorious again," said a Palestinian mother, Umm Mohammed Ali, part of the kilometres-long throng that moved slowly up the coastal road.
Witnesses said the first residents arrived in Gaza City in the early morning after the first crossing point in central Gaza opened at 7am.
Another crossing opened around three hours later, letting in vehicles.
"My heart is beating, I thought I would never come back," said Osama, 50, a public servant and father of five, as he arrived in Gaza City.
"Whether the ceasefire succeeds or not, we will never leave Gaza City and the north again, even if Israel would send a tank for each one of us, no more displacement."
Having been repeatedly displaced over 15 months of war, cheers erupted at shelters and tent encampments when families heard news that the crossings would be opened.
"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 and carrying backpacks walked hand in hand, men pushed the elderly in wheelchairs and families posed for photos as Hamas-hired officials in red vests directed them along the road.
About 650,000 Palestinians were displaced from the Gaza Strip's north during the war, which was triggered by Hamas' 7 October 2023 assault on southern Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
More than 47,000 Palestinians have since been killed in the Israeli assault on the enclave, according to the Gazan health ministry.
Many of those displaced have had to move several times as Israel designated parts of the Gaza Strip as humanitarian zones and then cleared them out before mounting bombardments and ground operations there.
The return of Palestinians to northern Gaza was delayed at the weekend but went ahead after Hamas agreed to hand over three Israeli hostages later this week and Israeli forces began to withdraw. Source: Getty / Ali Jadallah
The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said returnees to the north need at least 135,000 tents and shelters as they try to re-establish their lives in the rubble-strewn landscape of their former homes.
A delayed return
Under the terms of the ceasefire agreement, residents of the north of the Gaza Strip were due to return at the weekend.
But Israel said that Hamas had broken the deal by failing to release civilian female hostage Arbel Yehud and kept its forces in the Netzarim corridor that 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, two days before the next scheduled release of three more hostages on Saturday.
Israel then gave the green light for a return to northern Gaza from Monday morning.
Hamas has also provided a list of all hostages to be released during the first six-week phase of the ceasefire agreement, stating their condition.
On Monday, a Hamas official told Reuters the group had handed over to mediators a list that showed that 25 of 33 hostages scheduled for release in the first phase are alive.
The figure of 25 included the seven hostages released since the truce began on 19 January.
Israel has confirmed the Hamas figures in the list — 25 are alive but eight were killed by Hamas, an Israeli government spokesman said.
The identities of who was dead and who was alive was not immediately confirmed, keeping families in a state of hope and dread.
