Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians towing children and carrying scant belongings thronged the Mediterranean coast road on Monday, walking from southern to northern Gaza. While no Israeli checkpoints impeded the pedestrians’ progress, Palestinians crossing in 4,000 vehicles were searched for weapons by Israeli security at the Netzarim corridor, which bisects Gaza from east to west. Thousands who had remained in the north cheered the returnees as they arrived.
“My heart is beating, I thought I would never come back,” Osama (50), a civil servant with five children, said when 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.”
About 650,000 Gaza northerners are expected to return, having the fled the north during Israel’s bombardment of the coastal enclave over the past 15 months, while 100,000 Palestinians living in Cairo are poised to go home to Gaza, some to the north once the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt reopens.
Having abandoned homes, lands, and livelihoods, most returnees have found near-total devastation. Hamas authorities have called for 135,000 tents and caravans to shelter returnees from winter cold and rain. The United Nations Office for the Co-ordination ofHumanitarian Affairs reported that 70 per cent of the buildings in north Gaza have been destroyed or damaged, including housing units, schools, hospitals, mosques, shops and offices. UN Development Programme chief Achim Steiner said “sewage treatment systems, freshwater supply systems, public waste management” no longer exist. The war has reversed development by 60 years and Gaza will need tens of billions or dollars to recover, he said.
Joyful but anxious, Gazans crowd the road north
Gaza hostages were held in tunnels for months, Israeli medical officer says
Gaza Strip: Infrastructural ruin, destroyed facilities and lack of shelter await returnees despite joy at ceasefire
Palestinians begin return to northern Gaza after Israel signals end to blocking travel
Palestinians began to cross to the north after Hamas belatedly agreed to release Arbel Yehud and two other Israeli hostages on Thursday under the January 19th deal for a ceasefire and swap of 33 Israeli hostages for 1,900 Palestinian prisoners.
One week after the Hamas-led October 7th, 2023, attack on Israel, in which 1,200 were killed and about 250 abducted according to Israeli figures, Israel ordered the evacuation to the south of 1.1 million Gazans residing in the north, including Gaza City. The UN estimated that 50,000 who remained faced siege, blockade and an Israeli ground offensive, and were left without access to food, water or healthcare.
[ Palestinian killed and seven wounded after Israel blocks return to northern GazaOpens in new window ]
While 300-600 trucks loaded with supplies have entered Gaza daily during the ceasefire, the influx of thousands of homeless families into the north could overtake supplies. The situation could deteriorate if on Thursday, under 2024 legislation, Israel ceases co-operation with the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa. Its planning director, Sam Rose, told Al Jazeera the agency was filled with “massive trepidation” as Unrwa was the largest aid organisation in Gaza and its health, education and services could not be replicated by any combination of providers.
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