More than 375,000 Palestinians have made their way back to homes in northern Gaza after 15 months on the run because of war.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians streamed into Gaza’s most heavily destroyed area on Monday after Israel opened the north for the first time since the early weeks of the war with Hamas, a dramatic reversal of their exodus 15 months ago.

Scrambling over sand banks and craters, hundreds of thousands of Palestinian families describe the long trek back home to Nedal Hamdouna inside Gaza and Bel Trew

Israel says it has killed thousands of the armed group’s members and destroyed much of its infrastructure, but since the cease-fire started Hamas has shown it still holds power in the enclave.

They returned under a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, walking for hours to reach the bombed-out landscape.

A family in Gaza returns home after 15 nightmarish months of displacement. After 477 days of hell -- fleeing the length of the Gaza Strip, hiding from bombardment, sweltering in tents, scrounging for food and water,

Among those heading back to Gaza City was Umm Ali Muheisen, who reunited with her daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren on Monday after 15 months of separation.

CBS News followed one Palestinian man as the ceasefire deal allowed him to make his journey home after 15 months of war in Gaza. When he reached his neighborhood, he couldn't believe his eyes. CBS News senior foreign correspondent Elizabeth Palmer has his story.