Palestinians, who were displaced due to the Israel-Hamas conflict, began returning to the north of the Gaza Strip as agreed in the ceasefire treaty between Israel and the Hamas movement, media reported on Monday.
The Palestinians willing to return home started gathering in advance and had to spend two nights on the Rashid and Salah al-Din roads, waiting for Israeli authorities to allow them to return to the North of Gaza Strip, the WAFA news agency reported.
The official spokesperson of the Qatari Foreign Ministry, Majed bin Mohammed Al-Ansari, has said that Israeli authorities would allow displaced Palestinians return from the south of the Gaza Strip back to the north in exchange for the agreement to release three Israeli hostages.
Last week, Hamas released the second group of hostages within the framework of a deal with Israel. 200 Palestinian detainees, including those arrested on terrorism charges, were released from Israeli prisons in exchange for four female hostages.
Israel and Hamas, with the mediation of Qatar, Egypt and the US, agreed on January 15 to a 42-day ceasefire and declared their intention to finally end the hostilities that have claimed the lives of over 47,000 Palestinians and about 1,500 Israelis over 15 months, spreading to Lebanon and Yemen and provoking an exchange of missile strikes between Israel and Iran.
The first stage provides for a partial exchange of prisoners, the withdrawal of Israeli troops to the Gaza borders and humanitarian aid. The second and third stages are yet to be agreed upon.
Under the deal, the guarantors of the agreement — Qatar, Egypt and the US — will establish a coordination centre in Cairo.
Sputnik