After 15 months of genocide, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are returning to north Gaza as part of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

Early on Monday, the Palestinians – huddled together, holding their belongings in sacks and plastic bags – began heading northwards on foot through the so-called Netzarim Corridor.

Recommended Stories

list of 4 items

end of list

The Israeli military earlier on Monday said they would allow the Palestinians to cross al-Rashid Street by foot starting at 7am (05:00 GMT) and Salah al-Din Street by vehicle from 9am (07:00 GMT).

“I will start rebuilding my home – brick by brick, wall by wall,” a forcibly displaced Palestinian told Al Jazeera. “We will start by removing the debris and rebuild it all over again.”

Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza, said there was a “sense of excitement and happiness picking up” after Israel announced the timings for people to return home in the north.

“We saw a change in the mood of everyone. We have never seen people that happy in the past 15 months,” he said.

“People describe this moment as historic. They say it’s as important as the announcement of a ceasefire. For them, this is a victorious day.”

Hamas called the return “a victory” for Palestinians, while its ally, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, said it was a “response to all those who dream of displacing our people”.

Advertisement

In a statement, Hamas said Palestinians returning to areas from which they were forcibly displaced confirm their link to their land and once again “prove the failure of the occupation to achieve the aggressive goals of displacing people and breaking their steadfast will”.

In the early days of the war, Israel had forcibly evacuated some 1.1 million people from north Gaza to prepare for a ground invasion.

On Sunday, Israeli forces had blocked Palestinian civilians from approaching Netzarim Crossing, firing on the crowds on several occasions and killing at least two Palestinians, according to medical sources.

The march to the north came after Qatar announced that Palestinian group Hamas had agreed to release female Israeli captive Arbel Yehud and two others by Friday. Qatar also provided information on the conditions of the captives set to be freed in the first phase of the ceasefire deal, agreed on January 19.

Israel had delayed opening the Netzarim Corridor, originally scheduled over the weekend, over Yehud’s release.

Hamas accused Israel of violating the ceasefire agreement despite the group informing mediators she was alive and giving all the necessary guarantees for her release.

However, in the early hours of Monday, Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Hamas had agreed to release Yehud and two other captives before Friday.

‘Small promising sign’

Omar Baddar, former deputy director of the Arab American Institute, said he was cautiously optimistic about Palestinians returning to their homes in northern Gaza.

Advertisement

“There is no question that Israel has ambitions to take over north Gaza. That is part of the reason why they have utterly destroyed it and expelled people from the area,” Baddar told Al Jazeera.

“So, while this is a small promising sign – that they are going to allow within this agreement people to return – they are allowing them to return to an area that is utterly devastated. There is no indication that they are going to allow them to rebuild their homes in that area,” he said.

Israel’s genocide in Gaza killed at least 47,306 Palestinians and wounded 111,483 since October 7, 2023. At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks that day and more than 200 were taken captive.

Palestinian residents in the enclave say the actual death toll during the 15 months of relentless Israeli air and ground assault could be much higher as they dig out bodies from the rubble.

The Israeli attacks displaced about 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents, with some forced to relocate multiple times.