Crowds of joyous Palestinians stream into northern Gaza — though uncertainty awaits them

Gaza Strip, Gaza Strip (AP) — Monday morning and after hours, crowds of Palestinians Gaza’s main coastal road is packed for kilometers (miles) as they headed north. With supplies on their backs, they smiled, hugged and sang, rejoicing at the prospect of returning home after more than a year of war.

Associated Press photos, videos and drone footage show tens of thousands of people walking on the side of the road. On one side was the Mediterranean Sea. Moved to the other side View of destroyed buildings and bulldozed land The Israeli forces were withdrawn and left behind.

Families carried bags of supplies and laid out blankets. On their shoulders, the men carried small children – or sacks of food and metal canisters for cooking gas. Women balanced babies in their arms with clothes and jugs of water in their arms. A little girl dressed in teddy bear pajamas held her little sister’s hand as they trailed their mother. A young man straps a pet carrier to his chest with his cat.

A Palestinian woman walks into her home in the northern Gaza Strip after Israel’s decision to allow thousands to return for the first time since the opening weeks of the 15-month war with Israel on Monday, Jan. After returning, he held a child. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdul Karim Hana)

The picture — Displaced Palestinians return to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip, following Israel’s decision to allow thousands of people to return for the first time since the opening weeks of a 15-month standoff with Hamas. Photo/Abd Alil Karim Hana)

Returning Palestinians face an uncertain fate. Many of their homes were destroyed during more than 15 months of Israeli bombing against Hamas Large parts of Gaza City were leveled and the surrounding north.

Still, the mood was celebratory — a stark contrast to the fear and trauma Palestinians have experienced over the past year were driven to the south To avoid Israeli aggression in the same way. Many were smiling on Monday. A child waved a “V-for-victory” sign. Two friends hug at a reunion.

One escaped from the north at the beginning of Israel’s campaign. The other, who had stayed behind, went out on the beach road to greet his friend. “Thank God, we meet again after 470 days,” he said.

An old woman is being pushed in a wheelchair. 1948 Emissions and dispersion From Palestinian homes during the war surrounding the creation of Israel.

“Stand together, people of Palestine, stand together. “Palestine is gone, but she hasn’t bid you a final farewell,” he sang, bringing a smile to her face. Then he added, “Thank God, we’re not suffering from so much waste and hunger and disease. After that, they are returning to their homes.”

The crowd crossed the Netzarim Corridor, a stretch of land across the width of the Gaza Strip that Israeli forces turned into a military zone when they sealed off the north and ordered Palestinians to flee for their safety. The north was the site of the most intense fighting, often in densely populated areas where Israel alleged that militants had hidden among civilians.

Throughout the war, Palestinians could cross the corridor to the south, but were prevented from returning to the north.

Hamas fighters were now visible at some points along the highway as the crowds passed, a sign of the militant group’s surviving power in Gaza despite Israeli pleas for its elimination.

Under the Ceasefire deal Between Hamas and Israel, Israeli forces withdrew from two main highways leading north through the Netzarim Corridor, allowing Palestinians to return. On Salahuddin Street, central Gaza, the main road through cars and trucks heading north was piled with mattresses and other goods.