Return to North Gaza 'defeat of the occupation': Palestinian factions

By Al Mayadeen English
27 Jan 2025 09:42
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Palestinian Resistance factions hail Gaza's victory as thousands head to the north on foot against all odds.

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Displaced Palestinians return to their homes in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, on Monday, January 27, 2025. (AP)

Thousands of Palestinians have begun their return to Gaza City and northern Gaza through the Netzarim crossing in the central district.

At exactly 9:00 am on Monday, displaced Palestinians will be allowed to return to the northern area in vehicles, which will be searched, through Salah al-Din Street.

Thousands had spent their last two nights outdoors on al-Rashid and Salah al-Din streets, despite the piercing cold, waiting for the Israeli occupation forces to allow them to return to their homes after months of forced displacement to the south.

Most of the displaced plan on making the seven-kilometer journey back on foot through al-Rashid Street, a coastal road stretching from the northern to the southern part of the Gaza Strip, which witnessed dozens of massacres committed by the occupation forces against citizens fleeing from the north.

An agreement was reached between the Palestinian Resistance and "Israel", which would see the return of Palestinians to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday, after the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas agreed to release three Israeli captives before Friday, January 31, 2025.

This special exchange was agreed upon after the Israeli regime violated the clauses of the ceasefire agreement by blocking the way of Palestinians coming from southern areas who were headed to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip. The Israeli regime said that it would continue to block the path of Palestinians until Israeli captive Arbel Yehud is released.

Mediators facilitated an agreement that would see the release of Yehud and two other unnamed captives before this coming Friday in exchange for the release of a far greater number of Palestinian detainees, and more importantly the return of citizens to the northern Gaza Strip on Monday.

Therefore, the IOF spokesperson announced that in light of the agreement, Palestinians will return to the northern district on foot through the Netzarim crossing and the coastal al-Rashid street, starting at 7:00 am on Monday.

Israeli media reported that the military had dispatched its forces to the Netzarim Axis after withdrawing from other areas.

The legendary return: Palestinian Resistance factions

Hamas hailed the return of the Palestinian people to their neighborhoods and homes as a victory for the people and a declaration of the defeat of the occupation and its plots for displacement.

In a statement released on the occasion, the Resistance stressed that the scenes of the popular Palestinian crowds returning to the cities they were forced to leave, despite the destruction of their homes, attest to their greatness and deep-rooted connection to their land, regardless of the depth of their pain and tragedy.

Hamas added that "these scenes, filled with the joy of return, love, and attachment to the land, are a message to all those who bet on breaking the will of our people and displacing them from their land," stressing that it stands with the great people of Palestine during this historic moment and calls for intensifying the arrival of all aid and relief to the entirety of the Gaza Strip.

In turn, the Islamic Jihad Movement described the return as "legendary", saying it is a loud response to those who could only dream of displacing Palestinians, particularly after fabricating the issue of Arbel Yehud, which only aimed at killing the joy of the people of Gaza.

The PIJ emphasized that "the steadfastness of our people will eliminate any Zionist dreams of stealing joy from our hearts and will break the shackles of the jailer and the occupation."

The National Gathering of Palestinian Tribes, Clans, and Families, meanwhile, raised the "legendary and historic scene" of Gaza's people returning to the north from the Strip's central and southern districts, after much Israeli obstruction and delays "to deprive our people of their joy of the holy return, and to prove desperately that it has the upper hand."

"The return of our people today gives us hope and even complete certainty that we will return to our lands, cities, and villages from which we were displaced in 1948 in historic Palestine, which we do not accept an alternative for, regardless of the pressure and annihilation, just as it also gives us hope for the return of all our prisoners, who will once more breathe freedom and life," the statement added.