Hundreds Of Thousands Of Palestinians Return To A Shattered Northern Gaza
HuffPost
Joyous crowds of Palestinians streamed into Gaza's most heavily destroyed area, 15 months after Israel forced their exodus and closed off the north.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians streamed into Gaza’s most heavily destroyed area on Monday after Israel opened the north for the first time since the early weeks of the war with Hamas, a dramatic reversal of their exodus 15 months ago.
As the fragile ceasefire held into a second week, Israel was informed by Hamas that eight of the hostages to be freed during the deal’s first phase are dead.
Joyous crowds of Palestinians, some holding babies or pushing wheelchairs, walked along a seaside road all day and into the night, carrying bedrolls, bottles of water and other belongings. A few armed, masked Hamas fighters flashed a victory sign. The crowd was watched over by Israeli tanks on a nearby hill.
The United Nations said over 200,000 people were observed moving north in Gaza on Monday morning alone.
Palestinians who have been sheltering in squalid tent camps and former schools are eager to return to their homes — even though they are likely damaged or destroyed. Many had feared that Israel would make their displacement permanent.
