Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, displaced by the conflict between Israel and the radical Palestinian group "Hamas", began returning to their homes in the northern part of the coastal territory this morning after Israel opened crossings, world agencies reported, quoted by BTA.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians moved along the main roads to Gaza City today after Israel lifted the barricades there, "Reuters" notes. The first crossing was opened in the central part of the Gaza Strip at 7:00 a.m. local time, "Reuters" specifies.
Television footage showed the first residents of Gaza City, driven out by military action, returning to the city. A second crossing was opened at 9:00 a.m., with 650,000 Palestinians expected to return to their homes.
Israel allowed displaced Palestinians to return to northern Gaza after a deal was reached to release three more hostages, including Israeli civilian Arbel Yehud. The agreement was announced by Qatari mediators and confirmed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"The movement of displaced Palestinians began on the “Al-Rashid“ road through the western part of the “Nezarim“ corridor towards Gaza City and the northern part of the Strip," a statement from the “Hamas“ administration said, quoted by “Agence France-Presse“.
"I have not slept. "I had packed my bags and was just waiting for dawn to leave," Palestinian mother of five Ghada told Reuters.
The conflict in the Gaza Strip began on October 7, 2023, with a Hamas attack on Israeli territory that killed nearly 1,200 people and took about 250 Israelis hostage. According to the Hamas health ministry, the Palestinian death toll from the ensuing Israeli offensive is about 47,000.
A six-week truce between Israel and Hamas came into effect on January 19. This included the release of hostages by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. However, the return of the displaced Palestinians was delayed after Israel announced that "Hamas" had violated the agreement by not releasing Israeli civilian Arbel Yehud.