Palestinian rescuers begin searching for people under the rubble on the second day of the ceasefire Reuters
Hatem Khaled, Mohammed Salem and Nidal al-Mughrabi
GAZA/CAIRO, Jan 20 (Reuters) – Palestinian emergency services said on Monday a search was underway for thousands of Palestinians believed to be buried under rubble, as Gazans expressed shock at the devastation on the second day of a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.
A truce in the 15-month war that has ravaged the Gaza Strip and set the Middle East on fire took effect Sunday with the release of the first three hostages held by Hamas and 90 Palestinians freed from Israeli prisons.
Attention is now beginning to shift to rebuilding the coastal enclave that the Israeli military demolished in retaliation for the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel.
In that attack, 1,200 people were killed, and about 250 hostages were taken to Gaza, according to Israeli data. More than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in the ensuing conflict, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
“We are looking for 10,000 martyrs whose bodies were left under the rubble,” said Mahmoud Basal, a spokesman for the Palestinian Civil Emergency Services.
At least 2,840 bodies have been melted and there is no trace of them, he said.
Displaced Gazan Mohamed Gomaa lost his brother and nephew in the war.
“It was a big shock, and the number (of people) who felt shocked is countless because of what happened to their homes – it’s devastation, total destruction. It’s not like an earthquake or a flood, no no, what happened is a war of extermination “, he said.
Residents and medics in Gaza said that for the most part the ceasefire appeared to be holding, although there had been isolated incidents. Doctors said eight people had been hit by Israeli fire since Monday morning in the southern city of Rafah, without giving details of their condition.
The Israeli military said it was verifying the reports.
Billions of dollars will be needed to rebuild Gaza after the war. A UN damage assessment released this month found that clearing the more than 50 million tons of rubble left behind by Israeli bombing could take 21 years and cost up to $1.2 billion.
On the other hand, a UN report last year said that rebuilding Gaza’s destroyed homes could take at least until 2040, but could drag on for decades.
The remains are believed to be contaminated with asbestos, and some refugee camps affected during the war are known to have been built with the material.
Israel said its goal in the war was to root out Hamas and destroy the network of tunnels it had built underground.
