Thousands of displaced people began returning to Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip on Monday, via Rashid Coastal Street in the central Gaza Strip.

At exactly 9:00 am, the displaced will be allowed to move in vehicles to the north of the Strip, after subjecting them to inspection, through Salah al-Din Street.

Thousands spent the past two nights in the open on Rashid and Salah al-Din streets, despite the bitter cold, waiting for the occupation forces to allow them to return to their homes after forcing them to leave and move to the south.

Most of the displaced people walk back via Rashid Street, a distance of at least 7 kilometers.

Al-Rashid Coastal Street extends from the north of the Strip to its south, and during the 470-day war of extermination, it witnessed dozens of massacres committed by the occupation forces against citizens who were on their way to flee from the north to the south.

Between October 7, 2023 and January 19, 2025, the Israeli occupation forces launched an aggression on the Gaza Strip, which resulted in the martyrdom and injury of more than 158,000 people, most of whom were children and women, and left more than 14,000 missing.

The Israeli occupation aggression has caused the displacement of more than 85% of the citizens of the Gaza Strip, i.e. more than 1.93 million citizens out of 2.2 million, from their homes after their destruction. About 100,000 citizens have left the Strip since the beginning of the aggression.

About 1.6 million Gazans currently live in shelters and tents that lack the minimum requirements for human life, amidst massive and unprecedented destruction of infrastructure and citizens’ property.