Palestinians return to north Gaza

Moments after returning to her home in an affluent neighbourhood in northern Gaza, 44-year-old Sabrine Zanoun said she was overwhelmed with the mix of emotions.

“We are happy to see our family again… [but] it is also so sad it makes you cry – the destroyed houses, the rubble,” she told the BBC.

“People would come here just to walk because of the beautiful scenery. Now it’s mostly ruins.”

Sabrine was one of hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to return to their homes, or the ruins in their place, in northern Gaza on Monday.

The mass return comes a week into a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas aimed at permanently ending a war that began more than 15 months ago.

Like others in Gaza, she had been displaced several times over the course of the war, but most recently in the central city of Deir al-Balah.

She joined a “flood of people” who travelled by foot along the coastal al-Rashid Street – a route that opened to displaced Gazans early on Monday morning.

One security official in Gaza told AFP news agency that more than 200,000 people had crossed to the north of the strip by foot in a two-hour period.

Palestinians spoke to the BBC while making the journey.

“It was so long and tiring,” said 24-year-old Israa Shaheen, shortly after reaching Gaza City.

“Until the middle of the road, people were happy and singing and stuff like that, but then when it was taking a long time people were getting frustrated. Then we reached a sign that said ‘Welcome to Gaza’ and a lot of Palestinian flags and people began to feel joy again,” she said.

Others made the journey by car along a different route.

“There are thousands of people here. They’re filling the entire road… we are very happy but I am also feeling sad that I know I will reach Gaza City but my home is no longer there,” 42-year-old Wafaa Hassouna said on the phone as she neared the checkpoint.

When people reached their destinations, they spoke of their shock at what remained standing in their communities.

Mohammed Imad Al-Din, a barber who had been waiting at the checkpoint, returned to find his home destroyed, and his salon looted and damaged by a nearby Israeli strike.

Lubna Nassar had been waiting with her two daughters and son to be reunited with her husband. But while he had survived, their home was gone.

“The warmth of reunion was overshadowed by the bitter reality – we no longer have a home so we moved from a tent in the south to a tent in the north,” she said.

Others are still waiting to make the journeys home or deciding on their next steps.

One man said he would have “run to the north like I was in a race” if he did not have his pregnant wife and young daughter with him. Instead, they were hoping for the large crowds to pass, and to set off slowly on their journey home. He said they expected to find much of their neighbourhood flattened.

“We hope that this war will end and we’ll rebuild everything that is destroyed,” he said.

Another said his brother had told him not to return for now. He “called and said… the houses are demolished to the ground. People are sleeping on the streets and nobody is helping them.”

In the affluent neighbourhood of Tel al-Hawa, Sabrine said she was grateful to be back with her family and in a home that was still standing.

“It’s mostly ruins and destruction. Anyone who finds his house still standing, or even just a room, should consider himself lucky,” she said.

Additional reporting by Muath Al-Khatib