Gazans Crowd the Road North, Joyful but Anxious

They marched for hours in flip-flops and sandals, bags of clothes dangling from the crooks of their elbows. They trudged for miles with toddlers in their arms, mattresses slung from their shoulders. Old men hobbled on crutches, children pushed wheelchairs and one young boy dragged his earthly possessions on a sled.

For nearly 16 months, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from northern Gaza have lived in tents, barred by Israel from returning to their homes after being forced to flee south at the start of its military offensive against Hamas.

On Monday, shortly after sunrise, many thousands of them began the painful trek back. After disagreements between Israel and Hamas delayed their return over the weekend, the Israeli military finally withdrew from Gaza’s coastal road by 7 a.m., allowing displaced people to move north on foot. Car owners were later allowed to drive north along an inland road, subject to inspections.

The pedestrians soon formed a human column that stretched as far as the eye could see — miles in length and some 20 people abreast. Rarely has such an uncomfortable journey felt like such relief.

“We’re so overjoyed,” said Malak al-Haj Ahmed, 17, a high-school student who was taking selfies with her family beside the coastal road. “There’s no moment more joyful than returning home.”