Over 500,000 displaced Palestinians return to northern Gaza amid ceasefire

More than half a million displaced Palestinians have returned to northern Gaza following a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, according to the media office in Gaza.

"More than half a million displaced Palestinians have returned in the past 72 hours from the southern and central governorates to Gaza and northern governorates via Al-Rashid and Salah Al-Din roads," the media office said in a statement, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

The movement follows an agreement reached earlier this week, allowing displaced individuals to return to their homes after 15 months of intense fighting. Israel began permitting returns to the north of the Gaza Strip on Monday, marking a significant shift in the ongoing conflict.

Hamas’s armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, announced that it would release three Israeli detainees on January 30. Israeli public radio reported that, in return, Israel would free 110 Palestinian prisoners, including 30 minors. The exchange is seen as a crucial development in the ceasefire process.

Meanwhile, Gaza’s health authorities reported that hospitals received 63 bodies in the past 24 hours, including 59 recovered from rubble. This brings the total death toll since October 2023 to 47,417.

In a separate development, at least ten Palestinians were killed, and several others were injured in the occupied West Bank by an Israeli airstrike on January 29, Palestinian health officials said. The Israeli military stated that the strike targeted a cell of "armed terror operatives."

Additionally, the Palestinian health ministry reported that Israeli forces killed two people in overnight raids in the occupied West Bank. One of the incidents took place at a refugee camp in Jenin, where the Israeli military is conducting a major offensive.

By Vugar Khalilov