Large crowds of Palestinians continued to march from the southern part of the Gaza Strip towards their homes in Gaza City and the northern parts of the region, after Israel opened checkpoints and allowed their passage.
Displaced Palestinians are returning mostly on foot, making the journey through parts of the territory largely covered in rubble as a result of the war between Israel and Hamas over the past 15 months.
By Monday evening, Hamas authorities in Gaza said more than 300,000 people had crossed into the northern part of the territory. About a million Palestinians had been ordered to evacuate from this part of Gaza since Israel launched its offensive in October 2023, following Hamas' attack on the Jewish state.
This mass migration of Palestinians comes as US President Donald Trump is pressing ahead with his controversial suggestion to send large numbers of Palestinians to neighboring countries, such as Egypt and Jordan.
"When you look at the Gaza Strip, it's been hell for so long ," President Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Monday. "You could send people to live in areas that are much safer, maybe even better, and maybe even more comfortable."
President Trump first floated the idea on Saturday, saying he wants Jordan and Egypt to accept more displaced Palestinians as part of an effort to "clean up" Gaza.
Hamas, the group that the United States and Israel have designated a terrorist organization, said Palestinians were returning to their homes in large numbers in protest against any suggestion of their mass expulsion.
In a statement posted on its website on Monday, Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif al-Qanou said the scenes from Gaza “represent another failure of the occupier to fulfill the aims of the extermination and destruction war and a message of resilience against any attempt to displace them” .
The return of Palestinians to Gaza City comes in the early stages of a six-week ceasefire, the first of three phases of the agreement between Israel and Hamas.
During the first phase, seven hostages held in Gaza were released, exchanged for 300 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, and humanitarian aid to Gaza was increased.
The next hostage release is expected later this week.
President Trump's team is managing the fragile ceasefire, which was secured in the final days of President Joe Biden's administration. President Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel this week to discuss implementation of the first phase of the ceasefire and negotiations on the second phase.
Before the visit to Israel, envoy Witkoff is making a visit to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday where he will meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to a US official.
Palestinians and Arab states, including Egypt and Jordan, opposed President Trump's idea to admit Palestinians, fearing that their displacement would become permanent.
But after phone calls over the weekend with Jordan's King Abdullah and Egypt's President Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi, President Trump said he was confident the leaders of these countries would overcome their opposition.
"I would like him to accept some. We give them a lot of help and I'm sure he will help us," President Trump said of President el-Sissi. "I think he will do that and so will the King of Jordan."
President Trump said he would discuss the issue with Prime Minister Netanyahu “very soon.” According to US officials, the Israeli prime minister will visit Washington early next week.
Prime Minister Netanyahu and his far-right allies oppose the creation of a Palestinian state. The prime minister is under pressure from the ultra-nationalist wing of his coalition, which wants Israel to re-establish Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli government withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005, causing the displacement of thousands of Israeli settlers.
Ultra-nationalist members of Prime Minister Netanyahu's coalition, including ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, gave their strong support to President Trump's proposal.
Large numbers of Palestinians were expelled from their homes by what is now Israel, twice in a row. The 1968 Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip displaced 300,000 Palestinians, most of whom went to Jordan.
Meanwhile, in the 1948 war that led to the creation of Israel, some 700,000 Palestinians fled their homes – an event that Palestinians remember as 'Al-Nakba', which means "catastrophe" in Arabic.
In 2008, former Republican President George W. Bush expressed support for the creation of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security. Since then, all American presidents, Republican and Democratic, including Mr. Biden, have supported a two-state solution.
In 2020, during his first term, President Trump announced his Middle East peace plan, which favors Israel and denies the Palestinians their long-held goal of a state of their own.
The Gaza War began on October 7, 2023, with a Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and during which the militant group kidnapped 250 hostages.
Israel's counteroffensive in Gaza has killed at least 47,300 people, mostly women and children, according to health officials in the Hamas-controlled territory. The Israeli military says the death toll includes 17,000 militants killed.
Hamas is believed to still be holding about 60 hostages and the bodies of 30 of those kidnapped. Under the terms of the ceasefire, 33 hostages will be released during the first phase in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel./ Voice of America (A2 Televizion)
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