The homecoming

Tens of thousands of Palestinians crossed back to northern Gaza this week, taking the first steps under a fragile ceasefire deal after Israel opened checkpoints that had divided the territory for more than a year

- Emma Graham-Harrison

In the dawn light on Monday morning, tens of thousands of Palestinians flooded back into northern Gaza after Israel opened military checkpoints that had divided the strip for more than a year, ending a forced exile from homes and loved ones that many feared could become permanent.

Crowds that had waited by the road overnight began the long walk back to their homes and business - or what remained of them as soon as the crossing opened.

A column heavy with emotion and trepidation spread up along the coast, parallel to the Mediterranean Sea, and into the ruined wasteland that was Gaza City, and the north of the strip beyond it. More than 80,000 buildings here have been damaged or destroyed, according to UN data.

Dancing children, families carrying cats and parrots, amputees on crutches and elderly people hunched over walking sticks surged forward next to the Mediterranean coastline.

There were people rolling vast water drums, a sign they planned a one way journey back, however difficult the conditions ahead might be..

At another crossing further east, a queue of thousands of cars stretched back several kilometres, their drivers waiting for inspection and permission to drive north. After Israeli forces withdrew, checks for weapons were carried out by Egyptian contractors, with the help of a US private security firm, a witness said.

Many of those heading north knew or suspected they would be returning to nothing more than ruins, but wanted to pitch tents on their own land after long months shifting between crowded camps for displaced people in the south of the strip.

"My heart is beating. I thought I would never come back," said Osama, a 50-year-old public servant and father of five, as he arrived in Gaza City.