TENS of thousands of Palestinians streamed back into the most heavily destroyed part of the Gaza Strip today after Israel lifted its closure of the north for the first time since the early weeks of 15 months of fighting.

This followed United States President Donald Trump being accused of supporting ethnic cleansing for suggesting that Palestinians should be cleared out of Gaza to Egypt and Jordan.

But the Palestinian return to northern Gaza was both tragic — as people encountered their bombed-out homes — and triumphant  as they returned to the soil that many thought they would never see again and as many were reunited with family.