Israeli army promises return to north Gaza

The Israeli army opened the Netzarim corridor for Palestinians crossing into the north on Monday morning, with soldiers pledging to return as they withdrew from the area, according to the Israeli Channel 12.

The corridor, a 6km stretch of land that divides northern and southern Gaza, was established by Israel’s military during the current war and stretches from the Israeli boundary with Gaza City to the Mediterranean Sea. 

The last of the soldiers who withdrew from the corridor said: "Here we are, on the ruins of the Netzarim settlement. We are the last military force to leave the settlement here - for the second time, the heart aches. We will return here."

This is referring to the Netzarim settlement, one of the illegal Israeli settlements that existed in the Gaza Strip before the Israeli withdrawal in 2005.