RIYADH: Gaza’s civil defense authorities on Saturday discovered 155 bodies of Palestinians in the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israel, and rescue teams reported that around 9,500 Palestinians remained missing in the besieged territory.
Local authorities cataloged the catastrophic destruction of 85 percent of Khan Younis and Gaza City as hundreds of thousands of war-weary families picked their way through rubble-strewn streets, only to find many of their homes in ruins.
A fragile calm descended upon the Gaza Strip following the implementation of the first phase of a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, reported the Palestine Chronicle.
On the second day of the truce, the scale of the recovery operation was daunting, even as negotiations and preparations for a prisoner swap continued.
“More than half a million people have returned to Gaza (City) since yesterday,” said Mahmud Bassal, a spokesman for the civil defense.
In an early sign that much political wrangling remains, a senior Hamas official said it was “out of the question” that the Palestinian movement would disarm, as required by the plan, even if it steps aside from Gaza’s government.
The Israeli “genocidal crimes” have left more than 67,000 Palestinians dead and 170,000 injured, most of whom are children and women, said the Palestinian Wafa news agency.
A famine has claimed the lives of 460 people, including 154 children, it added.
Israel’s army chief Eyal Zamir conducted a field tour in Gaza with US envoy to the Middle East, Steven Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and the commander of CENTCOM, Admiral Brad Cooper, the Israeli military said.
New drone footage shows few buildings still standing in the Tal Al-Hawa neighborhood. The rest appear to be gutted. Piles of debris rise well above the tops of vehicles. Roads are shrouded in concrete dust.
“Is that what is left of Gaza? We are returning to no homes and no shelter for our kids, and winter is approaching,” said Shreen Aboul Yakhni, a resident.
