People walk towards the Netzarim Corridor to enter the northern part of the Gaza Strip on January 27, 2025.Bashar Talib/AFP/Getty Images
Tens of thousands of Palestinians lined the main roads leading north into Gaza on Monday after Hamas agreed to hand over three Israeli hostages this weekend and Israeli forces began withdrawing from a main corridor across the enclave.
A column of people, some holding newborn babies in their arms or carrying bundles of goods on their shoulders, heads north along the road that runs along the Mediterranean coast.
“It’s like I’ve been reborn and we’re victorious again,” said Umm Muhammad Ali, a Palestinian mother who is part of the slow-moving procession along the coast road.
Witnesses said they arrived in Gaza City early in the morning after the first crossing point in central Gaza opened at 7 a.m., when another crossing opened three hours later in vehicles.
“My heart is pounding, I thought I would never come back,” said Osama, 50, a civil servant and father of five. “Whether the ceasefire succeeds or not, we will never leave Gaza City and the north again, even if Israel sends tanks to every one of us, and no displaced people.”
Palestinians wait to return to their homes in northern Gaza on January 27, 2025.Hatim Khalid/Reuters
After being repeatedly displaced during the 15-month war, when families heard the news that the crossing would be opened, joy spread across the shelters and tent camps.
“No sleep, I have everything packed and ready at the first light of day,” said Gada, a mother of five.
“At least we are going back home, now I can say the war is over and I hope it stays calm.”
Hamas officials and ordinary Gazans have rejected a suggestion by US President Donald Trump that Jordan and Egypt should take Palestinians from the war-torn enclave, and long talks about permanently walking them from their homes. Palestinian concerns should be revived.
Children in warm jackets and backpacks in hand walked, men pushed elderly people in wheelchairs and families posed for selfies as Hamas recruits in red vests escorted them along the coastal road. Directed.
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Under the terms of the ceasefire agreement, residents of northern Gaza were due to return at the end of the week. But Israel said Hamas had broken the deal by failing to take civilian women hostage and deploying its forces in the Netzarim corridor that separates northern Gaza from the rest of the enclave.
Late on Sunday, Qatari mediators resolved the dispute after the Palestinian militant group Hamas agreed to release the Jews, along with female soldier Agam Berger and another hostage, on Thursday, two days before the release of three more hostages on Saturday. Agreed on. Israel then gave the green light for the return of northern Gaza from Monday morning.
Hamas has also provided a long-awaited list of all hostages released during the first six-week phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, detailing their status.
This aerial photo shows displaced Gazans walking towards Gaza City on January 27, 2025, after crossing the Netzarim Corridor from the southern Gaza Strip.-/AFP/Getty Images
Israeli officials have said they believe seven of the 33 have been freed since the war began on January 19, seven of whom are still alive.
About 6,650,000 were displaced from northern Gaza during the war, which was triggered by Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel, which killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. 251 were killed and taken hostage.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, more than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli assault on Gaza.
Many of those displaced had to be relocated several times because Israel designated parts of Gaza as humanitarian zones and then cleared them before launching campaigns there.
Most of Gaza is in ruins. At least 135,000 tents and shelters are needed by returnees to the north as they try to re-establish their lives in the devastated landscape of their former homes, the Hamas-run Gaza Government Media Office said. try to
According to the ceasefire, only unarmed people will be allowed to return to the north. Vehicles will be x-rayed to detect weapons and explosives. The Israeli army has warned Ghazni residents not to carry weapons with them or approach the Israeli army anywhere.
According to Hamas, Egyptian security personnel will monitor the return of Palestinians in vehicles along Salah al-Din Road, near the central checkpoint, Hamas police officers, heading north to south.
(Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Russ Russell)
