By Hatem Khaled, Mohammed Salem and Nidal al-Mughrabi
GAZA/CAIRO, Jan 20 (Reuters) – Palestinian Emergency Services said on Monday that a search is underway for thousands of Palestinians believed buried under rubble, as Gaza’s residents expressed shock at the devastation on the second day of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The truce in the 15-month-old war, which has laid waste to the Gaza Strip and inflamed the Middle East, took effect on Sunday with the release of the first three hostages held by Hamas and 90 Palestinians freed from Israeli jails.
Now attention is starting to shift to the rebuilding of the coastal enclave which the Israeli military has demolished in retaliation for a Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
That assault killed 1,200 people with around 250 hostages taken into Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. In the subsequent conflict, more than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed, Gaza’s health ministry says.
“We are searching for 10,000 martyrs whose bodies remain under the rubble,” said Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson of the Palestinian Civil Emergency Services.
At least 2,840 bodies were melted and there were no traces of them, he said.
Displaced Gazan Mohamed Gomaa lost his brother and nephew in the war.
“It was a big shock, and the amount (of people) feeling shocked is countless because of what happened to their homes – it’s destruction, 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 for the most part the ceasefire appeared to be holding, although there were isolated incidents. Medics 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 checking the reports.
Billions of dollars will be needed to rebuild Gaza after the war. A U.N. damage assessment released this month showed that clearing over 50 million tonnes of rubble left in the aftermath of Israel’s bombardment could take 21 years and cost up to $1.2 billion.
While, a U.N. report from last year, said rebuilding Gaza’s shattered homes could take at least until 2040, but could drag on for many decades.
The debris is believed to be contaminated with asbestos, with some refugee camps struck during the war known to have been built with the material.
Israel said its goal in the war was to eradicate Hamas and destroy the tunnel network it built underground.
(Reporting by Hatem Khaled and Mohammed Salem in Gaza, Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
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