The rebels handed over positions they had occupied around Kibumba, some 20 km (12.4 miles) north of the Congolese city of Goma, to commanding officers of the East African Community regional force.
"It is a gesture of goodwill that the M23 will make today," Colonel Imani Nzenze, one of the military leaders of M23, said during the ceremony.
"It is in the name of peace and a gesture that is part of the recommendations resulting from the mini-summit of heads of state held in Angola in November 2022," he added. "We hope that the government of Kinshasa will seize this opportunity."
The government of Congo was not immediately available for comment.
Speaking to reporters Friday from Kibumba, Gen. Jeff Nyaga, commander of the East African force, called on the civilian population to return home promising that they would be safe.
“We are determined to conduct operations in strict compliance with international humanitarian law and other conventions," Nyaga said. "We appreciate the complex nature of the operating environment but our zeal and determination remain undeterred,” he added.
The M23 is a Tutsi-led rebel group which the government of Congo, Western powers including the United States and Belgium and experts say is supported by neighboring Rwanda.
A recent report by a group of U.N. experts found "substantial evidence" of a "direct intervention of the Rwandan Defense Force in Congo," according to copy seen by Reuters on Thursday.
Earlier this week, France and Germany condemned Rwanda for their alleged support of M23.
The German foreign ministry’s director for sub-Saharan Africa, Christoph Retzlaff, said on his twitter account that the M23 should quickly contribute to a solution to the “disastrous” crisis.
Rwanda has denied all involvement in M23's resurgence, but the accusations have led to a major diplomatic crisis in the region.
A ceasefire agreement reached by regional leaders in Angola called for the rebels to withdraw from recently seized positions and for thousands of displaced people to be allowed to return to their homes. Some 450,000 people have been forced to flee since March due to the recent fighting.
"I thank the M23 leadership for complying with the Luanda decision of 23 November 2022, which called for M23 to leave all the places it controls," Nyaga said.
"We also call on the people who fled from Kibumba; now that the regional force has just deployed here, let them return to their homes," Nyaga added.
Some information in this report comes from The Associated Press.
