Thousands of displaced Palestinians have returned to northern Gaza, celebrating their homecoming with songs that express their steadfast connection to their land.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have made their way to northern Gaza, after many months of displacement during Israel’s 15-month genocide on the Gaza Strip.
About 90 percent of the territory’s 2.1 million Palestinians were internally displaced, with the majority forced to flee to the south.
Overnight on Monday, Qatar announced that its mediation – alongside Egypt and the United States – led to an agreement between Hamas and Israel for the withdrawal of the occupation forces from the Netzarim Crossing, which bisects the Gaza Strip.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Majed Al-Ansari, said that the mediators reached an agreement over the release of Israeli captive Arbel Yehud this week, after Israel set her release as a condition for its withdrawal from the crossing.
“As part of the ongoing efforts led by the mediators, an understanding was reached between the two parties that Hamas will hand over the hostage, Arbel Yehud, and two other hostages before next Friday,” Al-Ansari, who is also the adviser to Qatar’s prime minister, announced on X.
“In return, the Israeli authorities will allow, starting….Monday, the return of displaced citizens in the Gaza Strip from the south to the northern areas of the Strip,” he added.
The withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from the area was initially supposed to take place on Saturday in implementation of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal, which the mediators had announced on January 15.
Israel then insisted on the release of Yehud as a condition for the withdrawal. A Hamas source had also told Al Jazeera earlier that Yehud was going to be released next Saturday, on February 1.
Palestinians react
As the displaced Palestinians made their way on the coastal Al-Rashid Street back to northern Gaza, many celebrated their return with songs that reflected their steadfast connection to their land.
Translation: “My sweet land, my precious Gaza”… chants during the return of the displaced to the northern Gaza Strip.
The scenes have been marked by chants of joy and religious expressions from the crowds, with nearly half a million people moving back to the devastated region.
One man, forcibly displaced from northern Gaza, pledged to rebuild his home in Shujaiya despite the mass destruction caused by Israeli forces.
“I will start rebuilding my home – brick by brick, wall by wall,” he told Al Jazeera, adding that the effort would begin with clearing the debris.
The man described the day as a triumph despite the immense losses and grief endured by the people of Gaza.
In one striking scene captured on video, an elderly woman celebrated her return by singing and clapping as she was transported on a wheelbarrow.
“I want to go back home,” she said.
Translation: The joy of an elderly Palestinian woman upon her return via Rashid Street to her home in northern Gaza after months of absence.
The return of displaced Palestinians has drawn sharp criticism from Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s former national security minister, known for his anti-Palestinian inflammatory rhetoric.
He described the repopulation of northern Gaza as a sign of Hamas’s victory and labelled the ceasefire as a failure.
“The opening of the Netzarim Crossing this morning and the entry of tens of thousands of Gazans into the northern Gaza Strip are images of Hamas’s victory and another humiliating part of the reckless deal,” he said in a post on X.
“This is not what ‘complete victory’ looks like – this is what complete surrender looks like.”
Ben-Gvir further called for a return to war, urging for the occupation of Gaza and its complete destruction.
Prisoners-captives exchange
Over the past 15 months, Israel has killed more than 47,200 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The figure is believed to be 40 percent higher, with thousands missing and still trapped under the rubble.
Hamas officials, while affirming their adherence to the ceasefire agreement, criticised Israel for delays and alleged violations.
“We provided all necessary guarantees and information regarding the hostages,” senior Hamas official Basem Naim told Al Jazeera.
According to Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Al-Ansari, Hamas will hand over three additional captives on February 1, in the third prisoners-captives exchange.
The Palestinian group will also provide information over the total captives that will be released throughout the deal’s current 42 days of the first phase, Al-Ansari explained.
Israel will in turn provide a list of the names of 400 Palestinians detained since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, every Sunday throughout the same phase.