ReutersOn the first full day of peace in Gaza on Monday, rescue workers and civilians began to reckon with the sheer scale of the devastation inflicted on the Strip.
Gaza's Civil Defense Agency – the main emergency response service in the Strip – said it feared there were more than 10,000 bodies still buried under the massive sea of rubble.
Committee spokesman Mahmoud Bassal told the BBC that they hope to recover the dead within 100 days, but this is likely to be delayed due to the lack of bulldozers and other basic equipment.
New images from Gaza after the ceasefire on Sunday showed scenes of massive destruction that occurred during the 15-month Israeli offensive, especially in the northern Strip.
The United Nations had previously estimated that 60% of buildings throughout Gaza had been damaged or destroyed.
Although the sounds of bombing were replaced by celebrations as the ceasefire began on Sunday, the reality facing people across Gaza remains desperate.
According to the United Nations World Food Programme, the war has left more than two million Gazans homeless, without income, and completely dependent on food aid to survive.
This aid began entering Gaza immediately after the ceasefire on Sunday, and the United Nations said that at least 630 trucks had entered the Strip before the end of the day – the highest number since the war began 15 months ago.
Sam Rose, acting director of UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees in Gaza, said the aid supplies were just the beginning of the challenge of bringing the Strip back to life.
“We are not just talking about food, healthcare, buildings, roads and infrastructure, we have individuals, families and communities that need to rebuild,” he said.
“The trauma they've gone through, the suffering, the loss, the grief, the humiliation, the cruelty they've endured over the last 16 months — this is going to be a very long road.”
In Israel, the families of the three hostages who were released in the first hostage exchange spoke at a press conference in Tel Aviv on Monday evening. Mandy Damari, the mother of British-Israeli citizen Emily Damari, said Emily was in “high spirits” and “on the road to recovery” despite losing two fingers in a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.
“We got Rumi back, but all families deserve the same outcome, both living and dead,” said Merav Leshem Gonen, Rumi Gonen’s mother. “Our hearts go out to the other families.”
Before the press conference, Israeli authorities released new footage showing Damari, 28, Gonen, 24, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, tearfully welcoming their mothers on Sunday just moments after they were removed from Gaza.
If the first phase of the ceasefire holds, another 30 hostages will be released from Gaza within the next 40 days in exchange for the release of about 1,800 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.
Environmental Protection AgencyPalestinian health authorities estimate that more than 46,900 people were killed in Gaza during more than 15 months of war, and more than 110,700 others were injured.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but says that the majority of those killed are women and children, an assertion supported by the United Nations.
A UK-led study published by medical journal The Lancet this month suggested the Department of Health figures may underestimate the death toll by more than 40%.
The Gaza Civil Defense Agency said in a statement on Monday that 48% of its employees were killed, injured or arrested during the conflict, and 85% of its vehicles and 17 out of 21 facilities were damaged or destroyed.
Although the threat of air strikes has passed, the harsh work continues for the remaining civil defense workers. Photos shared by agency members in northern Gaza with the BBC on Monday showed them carrying out horrific actions, including recovering dead children and human remains in poor condition.
Abdullah Al-Majdalawi, a 24-year-old civil defense worker in Gaza City, said: “In every street there are dead. In every neighborhood there are people under buildings.”
“Even after the ceasefire, we received many calls from people saying please come, my family is buried under the rubble.”
Malak Kassab, 23, a recent graduate displaced from Gaza City, told the BBC on Monday that members of her family were among those who had not yet been recovered.
“We lost many of our family members, and some of them are still under the destroyed buildings,” she said. “There are a lot of people under the rubble, and everyone knows it.”
She added that the Kassab family's home, located in a residential building, was not completely destroyed, but was severely damaged. “There are no doors, no windows, no water, no electricity, nothing. Not even wood to make a fire. It is unlivable.”
The movement continues to pose a threat to displaced Gazans as the Israeli army begins the process of withdrawing from populated areas in the Strip.
The Israeli army warned people not to approach its personnel or facilities, or enter the buffer zone it created around the Gaza border and around the Netzarim Corridor, which divides Gaza and separates the north from the south.
But many residents were keen to see what was left of their homes sooner than they were told. Hatem Aliwa, a 42-year-old factory supervisor from Gaza City, said he was thinking of leaving on foot from his shelter in Khan Yunis in the south.
“We were waiting for this ceasefire like people waiting to enter heaven,” Aliwa said. “I lost two of my brothers and their families. I lost my cousins and uncles. The only thing I still hope for is to return home.”
There are serious concerns on both sides that the agreement may collapse even before the first phase is completed in approximately six weeks, and Israel stressed that it reserves the right to resume military action in Gaza at any time.
Speaking at a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed the agreement as a “ray of hope” and said its commitments must be fulfilled.
But Guterres warned of the worsening situation in the occupied West Bank, which has witnessed a significant increase in Israeli settler attacks against Palestinian villages since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Guterres said, “Senior Israeli officials are speaking publicly about officially annexing all or part of the West Bank in the coming months,” adding that “any such annexation would constitute a serious violation of international law.”
Moaz Al-Khatib contributed to the preparation of this report
