Thousands of displaced civilians return to northern Gaza under ceasefire deal
A Palestinian politician hailed the return of displaced Palestinians to northern Gaza on Monday as proof of the failure of Israel's ethnic cleansing plans in the enclave.
Hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians began to return to northern Gaza on Monday under a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement between the Palestinian group Hamas and Israel.
"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," Mustafa Barghouti, the head of the National Initiative Movement, said in a statement.
“US President (Donald Trump) will not succeed with political pressure and treacherous displacement plans in what Israel failed to achieve with killings and demolitions,” he added.
Trump called on Saturday to “just clean out” the Gaza Strip and resettle Palestinians in Jordan and Egypt, describing the enclave as a "demolition site.”
“All Israeli war criminals declared from the very start of their assaults that their main goal is the ethnic cleansing of Gaza's people and their deportation to Egypt's Sinai,” Barghouti said.
“Today, the return of hundreds of thousands proves the failure of the Israeli plans and heralds in the great return of the Palestinian refugees who have no homeland but Palestine, whether the occupiers like it or not,” he added.
The Gaza ceasefire agreement took effect on Jan. 19, suspending Israel's genocidal war that has killed more than 47,300 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and injured more than 111,400 since Oct. 7, 2023.
The Israeli onslaught has left more than 11,000 people missing, with widespread destruction and a humanitarian crisis that has claimed the lives of many elderly people and children in one of the worst global humanitarian disasters ever.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
