Palestinians return to north Gaza on foot, with belongings in hand

GAZA, Palestine

Tens of thousands of Palestinians streamed along the main roads leading north in Gaza on Monday 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.

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.

"It's like I was born again and we were victorious again," said one Palestinian mother, Umm Mohammed Ali, part of the kilometres-long throng that moved slowly along the coastal road.

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."

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.

Hamas officials have rejected a suggestion from U.S. President Donald Trump that Jordan and Egypt should take in Palestinians from the war-ravaged enclave, rekindling long-standing Palestinian fears about being driven permanently from their homes.

Children in warm jackets and carrying backpacks walked hand in hand, men pushed the elderly in wheelchairs and families posed for selfies as Hamas-hired officials in red vests directed them along the coastal road.

Under the terms of the ceasefire agreement, residents of northern Gaza were due to return at the weekend. But Israel said that Hamas had broken the deal by failing to release civilian female hostage Arbel Yehoud and kept its forces deployed in the Netzarim corridor that separates northern Gaza from the rest of the enclave.