
Member of the Hamas political bureau Khalil Al-Hayya spoke at a January 26, 2025 reception in Cairo for Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails in the hostage ceasefire deal. He said that the return of Palestinians from south Gaza to north Gaza is the first time Palestinians have returned to an area from which they were expelled. Parts of the reception were broadcast on Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas) on January 28, 2025.
Khalil Al-Hayya: "Today, our people are a role model of patience, steadfastness, and Jihad. We are proud of you and we are celebrating you, and this morning we celebrated the return of our people from the south to the north [of the Gaza Strip], after the occupation had decided to expel them. The people and their resistance shattered this goal, that the enemy wanted to achieve.
"Inshallah, this is the first time that our people have been expelled from one place to another."