Tens of thousands of Palestinians return to northern Gaza after hostage deal breakthrough
Deal reached after Hamas agreed to hand over female Israeli hostage, 2 others on Thursday
Tens of thousands of Palestinians streamed along the main roads leading north in Gaza on Monday, jubilant to be returning after months of living in temporary shelter but fearful of what might remain of their homes amid the bombed-out ruins.
Their return, which had been delayed on the weekend, went ahead after Hamas agreed to hand over three Israeli hostages 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.
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 on foot.
"It's like I was born again and we were victorious again," said a Palestinian mother, Umm Mohammed Ali, who was part of the kilometres-long throng that moved slowly up the coastal road.
"This is a great day, an incredible day ... a day that we've been dreaming of for 15 months," Muhammad Al-Ghazali told CBC News freelance videographer Mohamed El Saife, in the same area.
Witnesses said the first residents arrived in Gaza City in the early morning, after the first crossing point in central Gaza opened at 7:00 a.m. local time (12 a.m. ET). 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 sent a tank for each one of us. No more displacement."
Palestinian bulldozer driver killed by Israeli missile
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, while men pushed the elderly in wheelchairs and families posed for photos as Hamas-hired officials in red vests directed them along the road.
Signalling the fragility of the ceasefire agreement, Palestinian hospital officials said a bulldozer driver was killed by an Israeli missile along the coastal road west of Nuseirat camp in central Gaza Strip. There was no immediate Israeli comment.
Some 650,000 Palestinians displaced from north
Around 650,000 Palestinians were displaced from northern Gaza during the war, which was triggered by the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, 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 Gaza, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
Many of those displaced have had to move several times as Israel designated parts of Gaza as humanitarian zones and then cleared them out before mounting bombardments and ground operations there.
Much of Gaza now lies in ruins. The Hamas-run 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.
But some Palestinians returning to the north, from central Gaza, remain hopeful in rebuilding the coastal enclave.
"We're going to rebuild Gaza. Gaza is going to be rebuilt by its people," Mahmoud Radi told CBC News on Monday. "We're going to go back to the way it was before, but better."
Ahmed Shaqura said he hasn't seen the joy on people's face since the onset of the 15-month-long war.
"Yes, we are going back to destruction and devastation, but it remains our land, where we were born, where we grew up," he told CBC News.
Mediation required after hostage dispute
Under the terms of the ceasefire agreement, residents of northern Gaza were due to return on the weekend. But Israel said Hamas had broken the deal by failing to release civilian female hostage Arbel Yehud and kept 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, 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 on Monday morning.
The armed wing of Islamic Jihad, an ally of Hamas, published a video on Monday showing Yehud alive.
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 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 Jan. 19.
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.
Security checks
Hamas officials and ordinary Gazans have rejected a suggestion from U.S. President Donald Trump that Jordan and Egypt should take in Palestinians from the war-ravaged enclave, rekindling longstanding Palestinian fears about being driven permanently from their homes.
Critics of Trump's comments have said this would amount to "ethnic cleansing."
According to the ceasefire accord, only unarmed people will be allowed to return north. Israel's military warned Gazans not to carry weapons with them or approach Israeli troops anywhere.
Residents crossing back north said Egyptian security personnel were supervising the return of Palestinians in vehicles along the Salahuddin Road, the main thoroughfare running north to south, with Hamas police officers close by.
"At the Netzarim junction, young Egyptian army members are supervising the car X-ray machine and they are dealing with the returnees in a loving way ... the whole process took a few minutes," said Mustafa Ibrahim.
A private U.S. security firm will also take part in checks, an Israeli government spokesman said.
With files from CBC News and Mohamed El Saife