To mark the moment, some distributed sweets. Some flashed victory signs at passing photographers. A group of small boys led a celebratory song. “Right or left, north is best,” they sang. “In the north we go!”

There were so many people trying to leave that it became difficult to walk through the central city of Deir Al Balah, a hub for displaced Gazans. Family after family took down their tents and packed their belongings into plastic bags. Some carried gas tanks on their backs. One man fixed wheels to a plastic box, turning it into a makeshift stroller for his child.

As they walked, they anticipated the joy of reuniting with relatives who had ignored Israeli evacuation orders and remained in the north at the start of the war.

“The first thing I will do is hug my mother in her shelter,” 41-year-old Anwar Abu Hindi, a housewife heading north with several children. “Our emotions are all over the place.”

But amid the euphoria, there were some notes of caution and frustration. To begin with, people driving north by car, along the inner highway, encountered long traffic jams; Private security contractors screened vehicles in the north, slowing cars to a crawl.

And many were afraid of what awaited them when they arrived. Northern Gaza has become a wasteland, following intense Israeli airstrikes and the military demolition of many buildings, many of which Hamas had rigged with booby traps and explosives. In recent months, fierce fighting between Israel and Hamas, which continued until a sustained fire started this month, has caused particularly widespread damage north of Gaza City.

Many of those returning on Monday did not know if their houses were still standing.

“Thank God we survived this war,” said Shorouq al-Qur, 27, a law graduate returning to Gaza City. But, she said, “No matter where we find refuge, whether it’s here or there, it’s still a life in tents, surrounded by destruction and sorrow.”