200,000 Palestinians trek home to northern Gaza for first time in more than year
200,000 Palestinians trek home to northern Gaza for first time in more than year
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Drone footage showed masses of people walking north along the coastal route - but people travelling in cars face days-long waits at checkpoints. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are streaming into devastated northern Gaza – many for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month war – allowing them to reunite with loved ones and see what has become of their homes.
![[Around a million Palestinians were forced by Israel to flee northern Gaza in late 2023]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/27/08/SEI237530714.jpg)
A column of people, some holding infants in their arms or carrying bundles of belongings on their shoulders, headed north on foot, along a road running by the Mediterranean Sea shore. More than 200,000 displaced people returned to north Gaza on foot in the two hours after the crossing opened, according a Gaza security official speaking to the AFP news agency.
![[Displaced Gazan women hug each other as they cross the Netzarim corridor from the southern Gaza Strip into Gaza City]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/27/08/SEI237528935.jpg)
Many will return home to find their homes flattened by intense Israeli bombardment, but that did not extinguish the sense of joy at finally being allowed to return. “It’s like I was born again,” said Palestinian mother, Umm Mohammed Ali, part of the miles-long crowd that moved slowly along the coastal road.
![[Civilians were seen heading for their homes in northern Gaza on Monday morning]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/27/08/SEI237528831.jpg)
"My heart is beating, I thought I would never come back," Osama, 50 a public servant and father of five told Reuters as he arrived in Gaza City, the largest city in the noth. "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.".
![[Palestinians gather as they wait to be allowed to move into northern Gaza]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/27/07/2025-01-27T075345Z_256656593_RC27ICADK0UQ_RTRMADP_3_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-GAZA-CEASEFIRE.jpg)
The opening of the Netzarim corridor that separates northern Gaza from the rest of the enclave, which was due under the terms of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, was delayed for two days after Israel said that Hamas had broken the deal by failing to release civilian female hostage Arbel Yehud. Late on Sunday, mediator Qatar said Hamas agreed to hand over three Israeli hostages before Friday and Israel started to withdraw its forces from the corridor. 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.
![[Palestinians gather as they wait to be allowed to move into northern Gaza]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/27/07/2025-01-27T074656Z_442183874_RC27ICAS9NYX_RTRMADP_3_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-GAZA-CEASEFIRE.jpg)
