Gaza residents stream home to the north after hostage breakthrough

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Maayan Lubell

CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - 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 Palestinian mother, Umm Mohammed Ali, part of the miles-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. (0500 GMT). 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 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 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.

DESTRUCTION

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 Yehud and kept its forces deployed in the Netzarim corridor that separates northern Gaza from the rest of the enclave.

Late on Sunday, Qatari mediators resolved the dispute after Palestinian militant group 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 north Gaza from Monday morning.

Hamas has also provided a long-awaited list of all hostages to be released during the first six-week phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, stating their condition.

Israeli authorities have said they believe most of the 33, seven of whom have been released since the truce began on Jan. 19, are alive.

Around 650,000 were displaced from northern Gaza during the war, which was triggered by Hamas' Oct. 7 2023 assault on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli assault on Gaza, according to the Gaza 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 launching campaigns there.

Much of Gaza now lies in ruins. The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said returnees to the north need at least 135,000 tents and shelters as they try to reestablish their lives in the rubbled landscape of their former homes.

According to the ceasefire, only unarmed people will be allowed to return north. Vehicles will be x-rayed to detect weapons and explosives. Israel's military warned Gazans not to transfer weapons with them or approach Israeli troops anywhere.

Egyptian security personnel would supervise the return of Palestinians in vehicles along the Salahuddin Road, the main thoroughfare running north to south, with Hamas police officers close by, according to Hamas.

(Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Ros Russell)