Palestinians return to north Gaza after over a year; Hamas hails ‘victory’

After 15 months of war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are returning to northern Gaza as part of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Early on Monday, displaced Palestinians – huddled together and holding their belongings in sacks and plastic bags – began heading northwards on foot through the Israeli-established Netzarim Corridor, which bisects the strip.

The Israeli military earlier on Monday said it would allow Palestinians to cross via the coastal al-Rashid Street by foot starting at 7am (05:00 GMT) and the central Salah al-Din Street by vehicle from 9am (07:00 GMT).

“I will start rebuilding my home brick by brick, wall by wall,” a forcibly displaced Palestinian told Al Jazeera.

“We will start by removing the debris and rebuild it all over again.”

“We saw a change in the mood of everyone. We have never seen people that happy in the past 15 months,” he said.

“People describe this moment as historic. They say it’s as important as the announcement of a ceasefire. For them, this is a victorious day.”

Many of the people returning north were defiant.

“I cannot describe my feeling. It is a festive day for us, as if we have been resurrected and now are entering paradise,” a young displaced man told Al Jazeera.“I have one message: We the Palestinians are the rightful owners of this land. We will not budge. Our resolve cannot be dented. We sacrificed 50,000 lives and 110,000 wounded over the past 15 months alone. We sacrificed our homes, schools, hospitals and entire infrastructure, but we will not budge.”

Hamas called the return “a victory” for Palestinians while its ally Palestinian Islamic Jihad said it was a “response to all those who dream of displacing our people”.

In a statement, Hamas said Palestinians returning to areas from which they were forcibly displaced “prove the failure of the occupation to achieve the aggressive goals of displacing people and breaking their steadfast will”.

In the early days of the war, Israel had forcibly evacuated about 1.1 million people from northern Gaza to prepare for a ground invasion.

Israel delayed opening the Netzarim Corridor, originally scheduled over the weekend, over Hamas’s failure to release female Israeli captive Arbel Yehud in the latest captive-prisoner exchange on Saturday.

Hamas accused Israel of violating the ceasefire despite the group informing mediators that Yehud was alive and giving guarantees for her release.

On Sunday, Israeli forces had blocked Palestinian civilians from approaching the Netzarim Corridor, firing on crowds on several occasions and killing at least two Palestinians, according to medical sources.