Northern Gaza Is Shattered but the Spirit of Returning Palestinians Is Not 

Displaced Palestinians arrive in the northern Gaza Strip, following Israel's decision to allow thousands of them to go back for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month war with Hamas, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP)
Displaced Palestinians arrive in the northern Gaza Strip, following Israel's decision to allow thousands of them to go back for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month war with Hamas, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP)
TT
20

Northern Gaza Is Shattered but the Spirit of Returning Palestinians Is Not 

Displaced Palestinians arrive in the northern Gaza Strip, following Israel's decision to allow thousands of them to go back for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month war with Hamas, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP)
Displaced Palestinians arrive in the northern Gaza Strip, following Israel's decision to allow thousands of them to go back for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month war with Hamas, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP)

They walked for hours loaded with whatever clothes, food and blankets they could carry. Many smiled, some hugged loved ones they hadn’t seen for months. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians filled Gaza’s main coastal road as they streamed back to homes in the north.

The mood was joyous, even though many knew their homes had been destroyed in Israeli offensives against Hamas that leveled large parts of Gaza City and the surrounding north.

The important thing was to go back, they said, to prevent what many had feared would be a permanent expulsion from their homes.

“By returning, we are victorious,” said Rania Miqdad, who was heading back to Gaza City with her family.

Ismail Abu Mattar returned with his wife and four children to the ruins of their Gaza City home, which was partially destroyed by Israeli bombardment early in the war. Like many others whose houses are damaged, he planned to set up a tent nearby and start clearing the rubble.

“A tent here is better than a tent there,” he said, referring to the vast, squalid tent camps that arose in central and southern Gaza where he and much of the territory’s population have lived for months.

“We had thought we wouldn’t return, like our ancestors,” said Abu Mattar. His grandparents were among the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians driven from what is now Israel during the 1948 war surrounding its creation.

Palestinians return to northern Gaza, amid destroyed buildings, following Israel's decision to allow thousands of them to return for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month war with Hamas, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP)

A mass return on foot and by car Under the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, Palestinians were allowed starting Monday to return north. UN officials estimated that some 200,000 people made their way back over the course of the day. The scenes of celebration were a sharp contrast to the misery and fear during the war as more than 1 million people fled south on the same routes to escape Israel’s assaults.

Associated Press photos, videos and drone footage showed huge crowds heading north on foot along Gaza’s main coastal road. On one side was the Mediterranean Sea; on the other stretched a landscape of destroyed buildings and bulldozed land left behind by withdrawing Israeli forces. Armed Hamas fighters were visible in some spots, a sign of the group’s continued power in Gaza despite Israel’s vows to eliminate it.

Families carried bags of belongings and rolled up blankets. On their shoulders, men carried young children — or sacks of food and metal cannisters of cooking gas. Women balanced infants in their arms with satchels of clothes and jugs of water.

A little girl dressed in teddy-bear pajamas held her younger sister’s hand as they trailed their mother. A teenager strapped a pet carrier to his chest with his cat inside.

Others returned in cars and trucks piled high with mattresses and other belongings via a second route, Salah al-Din Road.

Many were smiling. A child waved a “V-for-victory” sign. People tearfully hugged relatives and friends they’d been separated from for months.

One old woman being pushed in a wheelchair sang a traditional Palestinian song of perseverance dating back to 1948.

“Stand by each other, people of Palestine, stand by each other. Palestine is gone, but it has not bid you a final farewell,” she sang with a smile on her face. Then she added, “Thank God, we’re returning to our homes, after suffering so much ruin and hunger and disease.”

The joy was tempered by war's cost and future's uncertainty Those returning crossed through the Netzarim corridor, a swath of land bisecting the Gaza Strip that Israeli forces turned into a military zone to seal off the north. The north saw some of the most intense Israeli offensives, aimed at eliminating Hamas fighters operating in densely populated areas.

Throughout the war, Israel repeatedly ordered civilians to evacuate the north – for their safety, it said – but barred their return. Under the ceasefire’s terms, Israeli troops pulled back from the main routes to allow returns and are eventually to pull out completely from the corridor.

For some, the joy of return was blemished by the deaths of loved ones.

Internally displaced Palestinians make their way from southern to northern Gaza along al-Rashid road, central Gaza Strip, 27 January 2025. (EPA)

Kamal Hamadah was returning to Gaza City, where his eldest son, his daughter and her children were killed by bombardment early in the war. Their bodies were left buried under rubble in the streets, even as the rest of the family fled south, he said.

Then just over a month ago, another of his sons who fled with him was killed.

“When his mother learned we were going back home, she was struck by a great sadness that she was returning without the boy,” he said.

Returning home, Yasmin Abu Amshah had a happy reunion with her younger sister, Amany, who had stayed in Gaza City throughout the war. “I thought it wouldn’t happen, and we wouldn’t see each other again,” the 34-year-old mother of three said.

Her four-story building was damaged but not destroyed, so she and other members of her extended family will stay there.

Those returning face an uncertain future. If the ceasefire collapses, they could face new Israeli offensives. If peace lasts, it’s not clear when Palestinians will be able to rebuild homes, leaving much of the population in temporary housing.

Ibrahim Hammad, his wife and five children walked five hours back to their neighborhood in Gaza City – knowing their house there had been destroyed by an airstrike in December 2023. His family will stay at his brother’s house until he can clear a space in the ruins of his house to set up a tent.

“We had to return, even to the rubble,” the 48-year-old told the AP. “Here we don’t have a house, but our family is here, and we will help each other.”



Asharq Al-Awsat Tours Homs, the ‘Capital’ of Syria’s Revolution, to Witness its Revival

People are seen in the historic market in Homs. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
People are seen in the historic market in Homs. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT
20

Asharq Al-Awsat Tours Homs, the ‘Capital’ of Syria’s Revolution, to Witness its Revival

People are seen in the historic market in Homs. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
People are seen in the historic market in Homs. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

In the heart of Homs, Syria’s third-largest city, the new Clock Square, nestled between the governorate building, the Teachers' Syndicate, and the Atassi Tower, reflects a slow yet noticeable return to life. The bustling markets, the flow of pedestrians and the modern vehicles all paint a picture of gradual recovery in the region.

However, just a few meters away, stark contrasts and remnants of war are visible in the neighborhoods of Khalidiya, Jouret al-Shiah, Baba Amr, Deir Ballaba and Al-Bayyadah.

Some of these areas were once the epicenter of peaceful protests, filled with music and dance, before the ousted regime’s security crackdown turned into all-out war.

In areas like Al-Wa’ar, from which the last batch of fighters withdrew, the price paid by the opposition to topple ousted President Bashar al-Assad is still etched in the city’s landscape.

At the crossroads of Al-Hamidiyah, Homs’ historic markets, the sounds of street vendors, the hustle of pedestrians and the blaring horns of cars and motorcycles fill the air amid heavy traffic. Trucks and vehicles are seen moving in and out of the gates of Old Homs, signaling the city’s recovery and return to the spotlight after years of war.

Eyad Abdullah, originally from Baba Amr, has just returned from 13 years of exile in Türkiye.

Members of the military operations command are seen at the new Clock Square in Homs. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Strolling with his wife and children near the Clock Square, he spoke with joy to Asharq Al-Awsat: “I have three children - two sons and a daughter, who is 12 years old. They were all born outside Syria in refugee camps. Today, we are walking near the Clock Square, and we’re about to visit the old market.”

“It was all a dream, and now it’s come true,” Abdullah explained.

Sectarian tensions

Eng. Mihyar Khaddour, another individual Asharq Al-Awsat stopped to speak with, shared his concerns about the sectarian tensions left by the Baath regime.

Homs, a major hub of the revolution against Assad, was one of the cities where the regime used overwhelming force to silence opposition voices.

Khaddour emphasized: “If Homs remains trapped in sectarian divisions, we will not know peace. But if its people manage to restore it to its former state as a symbol of coexistence and diversity, it will be the greatest victory the people could achieve.”

Damaged buildings are seen in the Khalidiya neighborhood in Homs. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Over 60% destroyed

Homs is one of the most devastated cities due to the shelling by forces loyal to Assad. In neighborhoods like Khalidiya, Deir Ballaba, Al-Bayyadah and Jouret al-Shiah, the destruction has surpassed 60%.

The city ranks third in terms of damage from military operations, following Aleppo and Eastern Ghouta near Damascus respectively.

The devastation is evident in the heavily damaged buildings, many of which have not seen their residents return, with only a few returning more than two months after the fall of the regime.

The return of stability to Homs has opened a new chapter for local shop owners and artisans, allowing them to resume businesses passed down through generations.

Abdel Bastet Al-Frawati, who owns a shop in the historic Arab fur market, shared that many business owners and tradespeople returned after the fall of the regime.

“We went through difficult days and months, with little work and challenges in purchasing leather from abroad or shipping it from Damascus,” he said.

“But today, the markets are once again connected, and traders can buy and sell across Syria and neighboring areas,” he explained.