DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Tens of thousands of Palestinians streamed into the most heavily destroyed part of the Gaza Strip on Monday as Israel lifted its closure of the north for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month war with Hamas in accordance with a fragile ceasefire.

Massive crowds of people walking with their belongings stretched along a main road running next to the coast in a stunning reversal of the mass exodus from the north at the start of the war that many Palestinians had feared Israel would make permanent.

Palestinians who have been sheltering in squalid tent camps and schools-turned-shelters for over a year are eager to return to their homes — even though they have likely been damaged or destroyed.

Yasmin Abu Amshah, a mother of three, said she walked nearly 4 miles to reach her home in Gaza City, where she found it damaged, but still habitable. She also saw her younger sister for the first time in over a year.

“It was a long trip, but a happy one,” she said. “The most important thing is that we returned.”

Many saw their return as an act of steadfastness after Israel’s military campaign, which was launched in response to the Hamas militant group’s attack on southern Israel. The return was also seen as a repudiation of U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion that large numbers of Palestinians be resettled in Egypt and Jordan.

The opening was delayed for two days over a dispute between Hamas and Israel, which said the militant group changed the order of the hostages it released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Mediators resolved the dispute overnight.