ReutersIn the first full day of peace in Gaza on Monday, rescue workers and civilians began to come to terms with the scale of the destruction in the Strip.
Gaza's Civil Defense Agency – the main emergency response agency in the Strip – said it feared more than 10,000 bodies were still buried under the vast sea of rubble.
Spokesman Mahmoud Basal told the BBC they hoped to remove the dead within 100 days, but this was likely to be delayed due to a shortage of bulldozers and other essential equipment.
New images from Gaza since Sunday's cease-fire showed scenes of utter devastation wrought during Israel's 15-month offensive, particularly in the northern part of the enclave.
Earlier, the UN estimated that 60% of structures in Gaza were damaged or destroyed.
Although the sounds of bombardment were replaced by celebrations as the ceasefire began on Sunday, the reality facing the people of Gaza remains dire.
According to the UN World Food Program (WFP), the war has left more than two million Gazans homeless, without income and completely dependent on food aid to survive.
That aid began entering Gaza immediately after Sunday's ceasefire, and the UN said 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 UN agency for Palestinian refugees in Gaza, said the aid deliveries were just the beginning of the challenge of bringing life back to the Strip.
“We are not just talking about food, health, buildings, roads, infrastructure, we have people, families, communities that need to be rebuilt,” he said.
“The trauma they've been through, the suffering, the loss, the grief, the humiliation and the cruelty they've endured over the last 16 months – it's going to be a very, very long road.”
In Israel, the families of the three hostages who were freed in the first exchange spoke at a press conference in Tel Aviv on Monday evening. Mandy Damari, the mother of Emily Damari, a dual Israeli-British citizen, said Emily was in “high spirits” and “on the road to recovery” despite losing two fingers in the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas.
Meirav Leshem Gonen, Romi Gonen's mother, said: “We got our Romi back, but all families deserve the same result, the living and the dead. Our hearts go out to the other families.”
Ahead of the news conference, Israeli authorities released new footage showing Damari, 28, Gonen, 24, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, tearfully greeting their mothers on Sunday just moments after being taken out of Gaza.
If the first phase of the ceasefire holds, 30 more hostages will be released from Gaza over the next 40 days in exchange for about 1,800 Palestinians released from Israeli prisons.
EPAPalestinian health authorities estimate that more than 46,900 people have been killed in Gaza during more than 15 months of war and more than 110,700 have been injured.
The ministry did not distinguish between civilians and fighters, but said the majority of those killed were women and children, a claim supported by the United Nations.
A UK-led study published by the medical journal The Lancet this month suggested the Department of Health figures may be underestimating the number of deaths by more than 40%.
Gaza's Civil Defense Agency said in a statement on Monday that 48 percent of its own personnel had been killed, wounded or detained during the conflict, and 85 percent of its vehicles and 17 of 21 facilities had been damaged or destroyed.
Although the risk of airstrikes is gone, for now the grim work continues for the rest of the Civil Defense staff. Pictures shared with the BBC by members of the agency in northern Gaza on Monday show them carrying out grueling work, including recovering dead babies and human remains in poor condition.
“There are dead people on every street. In every neighborhood there are people under the buildings,” said Abdullah Al-Majdalawi, a 24-year-old Civil Defense worker in Gaza City.
“Even after the ceasefire, we received many calls from people saying, please come, my family is buried under the rubble.
Malaak Kassab, a 23-year-old recent graduate displaced from Gaza City, told the BBC on Monday that members of her own family were among those who had not yet been restored.
“We lost many members of our family and some are still under the destroyed buildings,” she said. “There are a lot of people under the rubble – everyone knows about it.”
Kasab's family home in an apartment building was not completely destroyed, she said, but very badly damaged. “There are no doors, no windows, no water, no electricity, nothing. There is not even wood to light a fire. It is unlivable.”
Traffic is still dangerous for displaced Gazans as the Israeli army begins the process of withdrawing from populated areas of the Strip.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) warned people not to approach its personnel or facilities, nor to enter a buffer zone it has created around the Gaza border and around the Netzarim Corridor, which bisects Gaza, dividing north from south.
But many residents were eager to see what was left of their homes earlier than they had been advised. Hatem Eliva, a 42-year-old factory manager from Gaza City, said he was considering walking from his refuge in Khan Younis to the south.
“We have been waiting for this ceasefire like people waiting to enter heaven,” Eliva said. “I lost two of my brothers and their families. I lost cousins, uncles. The only thing I'm still hoping for is to come home.”
There are serious concerns on both sides that the deal could collapse even before the first phase ends in about six weeks, and Israel has stressed that it reserves the right to resume hostilities in Gaza at any time.
Speaking at a meeting of the UN Security Council on Monday, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hailed the deal as a “ray of hope” and said the obligations under it must be met.
But Guterres warned of a worsening situation in the occupied West Bank, which has seen a huge increase in Israeli settler attacks on Palestinian villages since the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel.
“Senior Israeli officials are openly talking about formally annexing all or part of the West Bank in the coming months,” Guterres said, adding: “Any such annexation would constitute the most serious violation of international law.”
Muath Al-Khatib contributed to this report