Rescue workers in Gaza are looking at the massive destruction

On the first full day of peace in Gaza on Monday, relief workers and civilians began to reflect on the extent of the destruction in the Strip.

Gaza’s security forces – the main emergency response unit on the strip – say they fear more than 10,000 bodies are still buried under a sea of ​​debris.

BBC spokesman Mahmoud Basal told the BBC that they hope to recover the dead within 100 days, but they may be delayed due to the lack of tractors and other essential items.

New images from Gaza following Sunday’s cease-fire showed scenes of damage caused during the 15-month Israeli offensive, especially in the north of the enclave.

The UN has estimated that 60% of buildings across Gaza have been damaged or destroyed.

Although the sounds of shelling were replaced by celebrations as the cease-fire began on Sunday, the reality facing people across Gaza remains grim.

According to the UN World Food Program (WFP), the war has left more than two million people in Gaza homeless, penniless, and completely dependent on the food plot for survival.

That aid began entering Gaza soon after the fighting ended on Sunday and the UN said at least 630 trucks 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 UN agency for Palestinian refugees in Gaza, said the aid was only the beginning of the challenge of bringing the line back to life.

“We are not just talking about food, health, buildings, roads, infrastructure, we have individuals, families, communities that need to be rebuilt,” he said.

“The trauma they’ve gone through, the suffering, the loss, the grief, the humiliation, the brutality they’ve endured in the last 16 months – this is going to be a very long road.”

In Israel, the families of the three hostages released in the exchange spoke for the first time at a press conference in Tel Aviv on Monday night. Mandy Damari, the mother of Israeli-British citizen Emily Damari, said Emily is “very happy” and “on the road to recovery” despite losing two fingers in a Hamas attack on 7 October 2023.

Meirav Leshem Gonen, Romi Gonen’s mother, said: “We found our Romi, but all families deserve the same outcome, the living and the dead. Our hearts go out to the other families.”

Ahead of the news conference, Israeli authorities released new photos showing Damari, 28, Gonen, 24, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, tearfully greeting their mothers on Sunday shortly after being evacuated from Gaza.

If the first phase of the ceasefire continues, 30 more hostages will be released from Gaza in the next 40 days to replace the approximately 1,800 Palestinians released from Israeli prisons.

Palestinian 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 were injured.

The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says most of the dead are women and children – an assertion supported by the UN.

A UK-led study published by the medical journal The Lancet this month suggested the Department of Health’s 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 personnel were killed, wounded or arrested during the fighting, while 85% of its vehicles and 17 out of 21 facilities were damaged or destroyed.

Although the threat of airstrikes is gone, for now, the bad work continues for the remaining defense personnel. Pictures shared with the BBC by members of the organization in northern Gaza on Monday showed them carrying out gruesome work, including finding dead children and human corpses in poor condition.

“In every street there are dead. In every place there are people under buildings,” said Abdullah Al-Majdalawi, a 24-year-old Civil Defense worker in Gaza City.

“Even after it was over, we received many calls from people saying please come, my family is buried under the rubble.”

Malaak Kasab, a 23-year-old who recently graduated from Gaza City, told the BBC on Monday that his family members were among those still to be found.

“We lost a lot of our family members and some are still under the collapsed buildings,” he said. “There are a lot of people under the rubble – everyone knows about this.”

Kasab’s family home in an apartment building was not completely destroyed, he said, but it was badly damaged. “There are no doors, no windows, no water, no electricity, not even firewood. It is unlivable.”

Movement remains dangerous for displaced Gazans as Israeli forces begin the process of withdrawing from occupied areas in the Strip.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has warned people not to approach its personnel or installation sites, or to enter the buffer zone established along the Gaza border and around the Netzarim tunnel, which bisects Gaza from the north to the south.

But many residents were eager to see what was left of their homes sooner than they had been advised. Hatem Eliwah, a 42-year-old factory manager from Gaza City, said he was considering walking to his refuge in Khan Younis in the south.

“We were waiting for this ceasefire like people waiting to enter heaven,” said Eliwah. “I lost two brothers and their families. I lost my uncles, the only thing I still hope for is to go home.”

There are serious concerns on both sides that the deal could collapse even before the first phase is completed in about six weeks, and Israel has insisted it reserves the right to resume fighting in Gaza at any time.

Speaking at a meeting of the UN Security Council on Monday, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the agreement as a “ray of hope” and said its obligations must be met.

But Guterres warned of a tense situation in the occupied West Bank, which has seen a sharp increase in Israeli settlers attacking Palestinian villages since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.

“High-ranking Israeli officials are officially talking about annexing all or part of the West Bank in the coming months,” Guterres said, adding: “Any such annexation would be a serious violation of international law.”

Muath Al-Khatib contributed to this report