Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians, mostly women, children and the elderly, began a long march on foot to return to their homes in Gaza City and the northern Strip. Most of them took the Rashid coastal road back to Gaza as Hamas and Israel trade blame for stalled truce talks and tensions rise as Iran enters the scene.
Some of the displaced families in central Gaza said they were notified by telephone by someone in the Israeli army that men over fifty, male children under 14 and women of all ages could return to the northern Gaza Strip. Israel denied that it had authorized the return. The AFP agency documented the march northwards with numerous photos. The Egyptian Ahram writes it online quoting the Palestinian agency Ma'an, documenting with photos a long procession of people walking with their few belongings saved from destruction. The Al-Rashid coastalRoad connects the south to the north of the Strip and the long procession passed Israeli checkpoints in central Gazan without obstacles, according to the Ma'An news agency.