Despite Israel’s 15 months of genocidal aggression, mass destruction, and displacement, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began to return to their devastated home cities and towns in the northern Gaza strip on Monday, January 27. The mass return of Palestinians to the north on foot is seen as a major victory and step toward reclaiming all occupied territories.
Israeli officials, such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, have described the return as a setback for Israel and the complete opposite of Netanyahu’s promise of “total victory.” Palestinian leaders, like head of the National Initiative Movement, Mustafa Barghouti, say the return represents Israel’s failure to ethnically cleanse Gaza as well as the Palestinian people’s commitment to remaining on their land.
As per the ceasefire and captives-for-prisoners swap agreement that came into effect on January 19, displaced people would be able to return from the southern Gaza Strip to the north within the first phase of the agreement, provided that they only return on foot through the coastal road. Moreover, their return is to be supervised by Qatar and Egypt, which act as main mediators and guarantors of the agreement.
Israel’s obstacles: the Arbel Yehud controversy
The long-awaited return was delayed for two days by Israel, which accused the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) of violating the ceasefire and captives-for-prisoners swap agreement for not releasing female captive, Arbel Yehud, in the second batch of the exchange last Saturday, January 25.
Yehud has been in custody with Saraya al-Quds, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement, the brother-in-arms of Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas.
Islamic Jihad reportedly refused to release Yehud with her counterparts last Saturday, because Israel insisted that she is civilian, while the Islamic Jihad classified her as a soldier due to the fact that she works as a space exploration and astronomy instructor in the Eshkol Regional Council in Gaza Strip envelope. Yehud was replaced with another female soldier in last Saturday’s swap batch, which provoked the ire of Israel.
Following mediation and extensive negotiations, the Islamic Jihad reportedly agreed to release Yehud in return for 30 Palestinian prisoners by February 1. Speaking to Al Jazeera on Sunday, Deputy Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad movement, Mohammed al-Hindi, said the movement’s acceptance to release the captive was made to “remove the pretext used by the Israeli occupation” and “facilitate the mediation process.”
Trump’s proposal to displace Palestinians to neighboring countries
As Israel obstructed the return of Palestinians to their homes, US President Donald Trump revealed a controversial proposal on Saturday to displace Palestinians from Gaza to other Arab countries, mainly Jordan and Egypt.
Speaking to reporters during a flight on board the Air Force One, Trump claimed that his proposal aimed to “clean out” Gaza, which he described as a “demolished site.” “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing,” the US President stated.
Trump added that he discussed the proposal with Jordan King Abdullah II, whose country has hosted millions of Palestinian refugees for decades. “I said to him, I’d love you to take on more, because I’m looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now, and it’s a mess,” Trump said. “I’d like him to take people. I’d like Egypt to take people,” he added.
International condemnation of Trump’s proposal
Trump’s proposal was condemned by Jordan, Egypt, the Palestinian Presidency, and resistance movements.
Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Ayman Safadi, stated on Sunday that his country’s position against the displacement of the Palestinian people “remains irreversible and unchanged.”
Meanwhile, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Sunday, stressing Egypt’s support for the “steadfastness of Palestinians on their land” and backed their “legitimate right to their homeland.” The statement also affirmed Egypt’s rejection of “any violation of those inalienable rights, whether through settlement expansion, annexation of land, or the removal of its rightful owners through displacement, or encouraging the transfer or uprooting of Palestinians from their land.”
The proposal was also rejected by the Palestinian Presidency, whose spokesperson, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, stated on Monday that “the Palestinian people, who suffered from the woes of the 1948 and 1967 catastrophes, will absolutely not accept these projects.” Abu Rudeineh also pointed out that the scenes of the Palestinian people returning to their homes in northern Gaza, despite the systematic destruction and crimes committed by Israel, confirm that they will remain steadfast on their land.
Hamas denounced the proposal saying that “it aligns with Israeli schemes, and conflicts with the rights of the Palestinian people, who have already been resisting the most heinous acts of genocide and displacement since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023.”
Islamic Jihad called the proposal “an encouragement of war crimes.”
Palestinians’ return to the north is yet another victory
For decades, Israel has sought to uproot Palestinians from their homeland, culminating in a genocide that lasted for over 15 months, with full support from successive US administrations.
Nevertheless, the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes in northern Gaza after enduring mass killing and wide-scale destruction is seen as yet another victory, and for many, as one step on the path of their return to the territories that were occupied by Israel in 1948.
Mustafa Barghouti, hailed the victory of the Palestinian returnees saying: “Our heroic people foiled the ethnic cleansing plot in the Gaza Strip with the return of hundreds of thousands to northern Gaza, including Gaza City, despite the massive destruction and genocide committed by the (Israeli) occupation.”
“US President (Donald Trump) will not succeed with political pressure and treacherous displacement plans in what Israel failed to achieve with killings and demolitions,” Barghouti added.
The victory of Palestinians returning to their homes has also been admitted by Israeli officials, who considered it “another humiliating part” of the ceasefire deal for Israel. Condemning their return and blaming Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu for failing to achieve the “total victory” in Gaza he promised, Israel’s Former National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, wrote on his X account: “This is not what ‘total victory’ looks like – this is what total surrender looks like.”
