Gazans return to the north en masse after Israel’s withdrawal from the Netzarim corridor

01/27/2025

Updated at 11:13 a.m.

After two days of long waiting, Israeli soldiers withdrew from the Netzarim corridor and hundreds of thousands of Gazans began their return to the north of the Strip. A huge mass of humans crossed on foot through a place that the Israeli Army … rose to split Gaza in two and showed that no one wants to be a refugee again. The Gazans, who were expelled from their homes by Israel at the beginning of the war, want to return to their land, although what awaits them is absolute devastation. A direct message to donald trump and his plan to send as many Palestinians as possible to Egypt and Jordan.

for months Benjamin Netanyahu It threatened to prevent this return and having almost 2 million people concentrated in the south, living in tents and with few services was a great pressure for Hamas. The ultranationalist ministers even planned to build settlements in devastated areas such as Jabalia, Beit Hanoun or Beit Lahiya, but that plan will have to wait because the Palestinians have returned. Hamas security forces took up positions in the corridor and other areas abandoned by the occupation forces and once again demonstrated that they maintain control of the Strip.

This massive population movement should have occurred on Saturday, according to the agreement reached in Doha between Hamas and Israel. The problem was that the Islamists altered the terms of the text and freed four female soldiers when they should have given priority to female civilian captives. In response to this alteration of the text, Israel prolonged the presence of troops in Netzarim until it reached a new pact with Hamas by which on Thursday three Israeli hostages will be released in an exchange that was not scheduled, among them the young civilian. Arbel Yehoud29 years old. The other two will be the female soldier Agam Berger and a man whose identity was not revealed. During the night, Israel also received the complete list with all the names of the captives who will leave Gaza in the first phase of the agreement.

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