Thousands of displaced Palestinians begin journey to northern Gaza | First Thing
Thousands of displaced Palestinians begin journey to northern Gaza | First Thing
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Families start returning home after first major crisis of ceasefire overcome. Good morning. Palestinians displaced from their homes in northern Gaza began to return to the region early on Monday, the territory’s interior ministry said, after the first major crisis of the truce between between Israel and Hamas.
![[Adam Schiff at the Capitol in Washington]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/3fb60c1235b413da17c3d2f0a4dcd5af7e0812c6/0_87_5222_3135/master/5222.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The mediating party, Qatar, said the two sides had reached an agreement over the release of an Israeli civilian hostage, Arbel Yehoud, who is to be freed along with two other hostages before Friday. The deal meant that on Monday, Israeli authorities allowed Palestinians to return to northern Gaza.
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Social media showed thousands of people walking along sandy roadways surrounded by the total destruction of more than a year of Israeli strikes. Learning they could begin to move north on Monday, displaced families broke out in cheers. “No sleep, I have everything packed and ready to go with the first light of day,” Ghada, a mother of five, told Reuters.
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What has Donald Trump said about Gaza? In comments strongly rejected by the Palestinians, Egypt, and Jordan, for fear that Israel will not let refugees return, he said Gaza’s people should at least temporarily be resettled elsewhere. Donald Trump acted in “clear violation of the law” by firing more than a dozen independent federal government inspectors, US senator Adam Schiff has said, his voice joining a chorus of criticism against the sweeping actions taken by the president in his first week.
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