‘There are dead on every street’: Gaza rescuers estimate scale of destruction

On Monday, the first full day of calm in Gaza, rescue workers and civilians began assessing the scale of destruction in the strip.

Gaza’s Civil Protection Agency – the strip’s main emergency response service – said it feared more than 10,000 bodies were still buried under the vast sea of ​​debris.

Spokesman Mahmoud Bassal told the BBC that he hoped to recover the dead within 100 days, but that this was likely to be delayed due to a shortage of bulldozers and other necessary equipment.

New photographs from Gaza following Sunday’s ceasefire show scenes of total devastation caused by 15 months of Israeli offensive, especially in the north of the enclave.

The United Nations previously estimated that 60% of structures across Gaza had been damaged or destroyed.

Although the sounds of bombing were replaced by celebrations as the ceasefire began on Sunday, the reality people face across Gaza is still bleak.

According to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), the war has left more than two million Gazans homeless, with no income and completely dependent on food aid to survive.

Aid began arriving in Gaza shortly after the ceasefire on Sunday and the UN said at least 630 lorries had gone into the strip before the day was out – the highest number since the war began 15 months ago.

Sam Rose, acting director of UNRWA, the UN Palestinian refugee agency in Gaza, said the aid supplies are just the beginning of the challenge of bringing the strip back to life.

“We’re not just talking about food, health care, buildings, roads, infrastructure, we have individuals, families, communities that need to rebuild,” he said.

“The trauma they have gone through, the pain, loss, sadness, humiliation and cruelty they have endured over the last 16 months – it is going to be a very, very long road.”

In Israel, the families of three hostages freed in the earlier exchange spoke at a news conference in Tel Aviv on Monday night. Mandy Damari, mother of Emily Damari, a dual Israeli-British citizen, said that despite losing two fingers in a Hamas attack on 7 October 2023, Emily was “upbeat” and “on the road to recovery”.

Mirav Leshem Gonen, Romy Gonen’s mother, said: “We got our Romy back, but all families deserve the same outcome, both the living and the dead. Our thoughts are with the other families.”

Ahead of the news conference, Israeli officials released new footage showing Damari, 28, Gonen, 24, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, tearfully greeting their mothers on Sunday, moments after being pulled 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 approximately 1,800 Palestinians being freed from Israeli prisons.

Palestinian health officials estimate that more than 46,900 people have been killed and 110,700 wounded in Gaza during the more than 15-month war.

The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority of the dead were women and children – a claim backed by the United Nations.

A UK-led study published by the medical journal The Lancet this month suggested that health ministry 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 own personnel were killed, wounded or detained during the clashes, and 85% of its vehicles and 17 of 21 facilities were damaged or destroyed.

Although the threat of airstrikes has ended, for now, the difficult task continues for the remaining civil defense personnel. Pictures shared with the BBC by agency members in northern Gaza on Monday show them carrying out grueling work, including recovering dead babies and human remains in poor condition.

“There are dead on every street. There are people under buildings in every neighborhood,” 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 debris.”

Malak Kassab, a 23-year-old graduate recently displaced from Gaza City, told the BBC on Monday that his family members were among those still unaccounted for.

“We have lost many of our family members and some are still under the destroyed buildings,” he said. “There are a lot of people under the debris – everyone knows about that.”

Kasab’s family home in an apartment building was not completely destroyed, but was very badly damaged, he said. “There are no doors, no windows, no water, no electricity, nothing. Not even wood to burn. It’s not livable.”

Movement is still dangerous for displaced Gazans as Israeli forces begin the process of withdrawing from populated areas of the strip.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has warned people not to approach its personnel or installations, nor enter the buffer zone created around the Gaza border and the Netzarim corridor, which runs between Gaza from north to south. Divides.

But many residents were keen to see what was left of their homes before advice was given. Hatem Aliwah, a 42-year-old factory supervisor in Gaza City, said he was considering leaving his shelter in Khan Yunis in the south on foot.

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

Both sides have serious concerns that the agreement could collapse before the first phase is completed in about six weeks, and Israel has stressed that it reserves the right to resume military operations 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 “beacon of hope” and said its obligations must be met.

But Guterres warned of the worsening situation in the occupied West Bank, which has seen a sharp increase in attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian villages since Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

“Senior Israeli officials openly talk about formally annexing all or parts of the West Bank in the coming months,” Guterres said. “Any such capture would be the most serious violation of international law,” he said.

Muath Al-Khatib contributed to this report