Displaced Palestinians return to northern Gaza for the first time since war began

Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians in Gaza began returning to the northern Gaza Strip on Monday for the first time since the war started after mediators brokered an agreement tied to the release of an Israeli captive.

According to the Gaza health ministry, around 650,000 displaced people in the central and southern Gaza Strip will return to their homes in the north of the enclave.

"The passage of displaced Palestinians has begun along the Al Rashid road via the western part of the Netzarim checkpoint towards Gaza City and the northern part of the Gaza Strip," a Hamas official told AFP. 

Footage from Israel’s Channel 12 showed Israeli forces withdrawing from the so-called Netzarim Corridor, enabling civilian movement.

Sami Saleh, who was displaced several times south of Gaza, told MEE he had faced an "extremely difficult" period of displacement for over a year. 

Read more: Displaced Palestinians return to northern Gaza for the first time since war began