Watan-Palestinians continued their arduous journey back to northern Gaza on Tuesday for the second consecutive day, as large crowds flocked to the “Netzarim Axis” from both the coastal Rashid Road and the main Salah al-Din Road. This comes amid several countries’ firm rejection of U.S. President Donald Trump’s remarks about the displacement of Gaza’s residents.
Long lines of vehicles waited for their turn at inspection points before crossing north. Families returning on foot via Rashid Road were forced to walk long distances, carrying their belongings on their backs.
Many of these families cannot afford the cost of returning by vehicle or truck, which ranges between $200 and $300.
During the return journey, Umm Mohammed, a woman in her mid-fifties, told: “Our suffering didn’t end with our return; the tragedy has just begun.”
Israeli occupation forces opened fire on several occasions. Meanwhile, the Gaza Ministry of Health announced that 48 martyrs had been brought to hospitals in the past 48 hours—37 retrieved from under the rubble and 11 newly killed—along with 80 injuries.
Palestinians of all political affiliations, supported by Arab and international stances, have firmly rejected any plan to displace them from Gaza following Trump’s Saturday remarks about so-called “voluntary migration.”
Israeli media reported that some countries, including Indonesia and Albania, might be willing to receive Palestinians from Gaza. However, Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama dismissed these claims as “fake news.” Egypt also denied that President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Trump had discussed Gaza over the phone.
In the Qatari capital, Doha, when asked about Trump’s statements, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Majed Al-Ansari, reiterated his country’s consistent stance that the Palestinian people must obtain their rights and that a two-state solution is the only way forward.
Speaking about the implementation of the ceasefire agreement, he said, “There has been no real breach of the truce so far.”
In Cairo, where a senior Hamas delegation has arrived, Palestinian-Palestinian talks are being held alongside meetings with Egyptian officials.
A senior official from one Palestinian faction in Cairo stated that mediators are determined to make the upcoming rounds of dialogue successful, though he anticipated that negotiations would not be easy.
Meanwhile, Hamas announced in a statement that it had discussed with Egypt efforts to form a national unity government in Gaza or establish a community support committee.
Simultaneously, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office announced that Trump had invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit the White House on February 4.
Israeli media also reported that Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, Steve Whitcoff, would visit Gaza and inspect the “Netzarim Axis” on Wednesday.
In New York, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini warned during a UN Security Council session that Israel’s ban on the agency’s operations, set to take effect on Thursday, would be catastrophic and would cripple its work in Gaza and the West Bank.
However, the acting U.S. envoy at the council claimed that “UNRWA is exaggerating the impact of the laws” and asserted that Washington supports Israel’s “sovereign decision” to close UNRWA offices in occupied Jerusalem.
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