Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians moved north on Monday after Israeli forces withdrew from portions of a militarised corridor that has for months divided Gaza into two.
For some, the only way home was on foot, or on the back of the donkey carts that have become a crucial mode of transportation in fuel-starved Gaza during the 15-month war between Israel and Hamas. Some carried their few possessions, others their children.
Israeli troops had withdrawn to the eastern edge of the strip early on Monday, leaving open a path through the Netzarim corridor, named after a settlement Israel abandoned in 2005. They walked under a banner that read “Welcome to Gaza”.