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For the first time in over a year, tens of thousands of Palestinians have reached their homes in the northern Gaza Strip, giving way to a mixture of elation and despair.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, emotional reunions with family members who remained in northern Gaza during the war continued throughout Gaza City. But the return home was also shocking and depressing: Israel\u2019s bombing campaign flattened entire neighborhoods, making them barely recognizable piles of rubble.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re overcome with joy \u2014 we\u2019re finally in our neighborhood near friends and family after a year living on the sidewalk and the sand,\u201d said Rajab al-Sindawi, a 49-year-old secondhand clothing salesman from Gaza City, who had traveled to Rafah, Deir al Balah and Nuseirat after leaving the north. \u201cBut our home is gone and it feels like our future is gone, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
The mass return to northern Gaza commenced after Israeli troops withdrew from Gaza\u2019s coastal road on Monday under the terms of the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, and allowed displaced people to move north.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n