A day after the beginning of the cease-fire in Gaza, the displaced return to Rafah. The border town is a shell of what it once was, with many buildings in ruins and the remains of victims still under the rubble.

Instead of bodies, white bags are filled with clothing, bones and bits of hair – whatever the families can find to help with identification. Sometimes the word “unknown” is written across the bag in blue marker. Those souls will be buried without names or loved ones to claim them.

On Monday, Zaki Shaqafa searched through remains pulled from the rubble, looking for his nephew Abdul Salam Al-Mughair. He recognized the shoe – gray with navy blue triangles on the side – as he pulled up a photo of his 26-year-old nephew on his phone. Shaqafa pointed to the drawing and confirmed that it belonged to his nephew.

“We lost him about five months ago,” he told CBC freelance cameraman Mohamed El Saife. – And that is what confirmed that this martyr is part of our family.

Nearby, Ibrahim Solayeh, the imam at the mosque, asked civilians to come to the European Hospital to identify the bodies and help bury them.

“These bodies have been in the streets and under the rubble for a long time,” he told El Saife. “(They) got to the point of bones and decay.”

Cease fire, which came into force on Sunday after more than 15 months of relentless Israeli bombing in Gaza, it began with the release of the first three hostages held by Hamas and 90 Palestinians freed from Israeli prisons.

It is estimated that there are 10,000 bodies under the ruins

Solayeh said he had received 50 bodies found on Monday, half of which had been identified.

Many are still under rubble across the Gaza Strip.

More than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in the 15-month war, according to the region’s health ministry. Due to the chaos of the war, verifying the exact number of casualties was challenging and subject to questioning.

A peer-reviewed study published in Lancet January 9 suggests that the official figures may be significantly underestimated. On June 30, 2024, the Gaza Ministry of Health reported 37,877 deaths; the study estimated that the number by that date was probably around 64,200.

The Palestinian Civil Defense said it was searching for approximately 10,000 bodies believed to be buried under the rubble.

Haitham Al-Hams, a rescuer with the Palestinian Civil Defense, said the agency had received more than 100 calls on Monday about decomposing bodies being discovered under the rubble.

“This is a daily mission for civil defence,” Al-Hams told CBC News on Monday.

Destruction level ‘big shock’

At least 2,840 bodies disintegrated without any trace, Mahmoud Basal, a spokesman for the Palestinian Civil Protection, said on Monday.

Mohamed Gomaa, who was displaced and lost a brother and nephew in the war, said the level of destruction in Gaza was a “big shock”.

“The number (of people) who feel shocked is countless because of what has happened to their homes – it’s destruction, total destruction,” Gomaa said.

“It’s not like an earthquake or a flood, no, no. What happened was a war of extermination.”

Hopeful Palestinians want to rebuild the coastal enclave that was demolished by the Israeli army after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.

In that attack, 1,200 people were killed, and about 250 hostages were taken to Gaza, according to Israeli data.

Debris clearance could take 21 years: report

Reports estimate that billions of dollars will be needed to rebuild Gaza after the level of destruction caused by Israeli bombing.

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 US$1.2 billion.

Rebuilding Gaza’s destroyed homes, meanwhile, could take at least until 2040, but could take decades, according to a UN report last year.

The debris is also believed to be contaminated with asbestos, and some refugee camps affected during the war are known to have been built with the material.

A UN Development Program official said on Sunday that development in Gaza has been set back 69 years as a result of the conflict.

While the ceasefire appeared to have largely held on Monday, medics said eight people were hit by Israeli fire in Rafah, southern Gaza.

Israel’s military said it fired “warning shots at suspects who approached deployed troops,” according to the ceasefire agreement.