Palestinians have found dozens of bodies under rubble in Gaza and are searching for thousands more as a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas continues for a second day.

Medical sources told Al Jazeera on Monday that the bodies of 97 Palestinians have been recovered in the devastated city of Rafah in southern Gaza since the ceasefire came into effect the previous day, and that the first three Hamas captives and 90 Palestinians in Israeli jails have been detained. release. .

Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured more than 111,000, according to local health authorities.

But the Palestinian Civil Defense Agency said it estimated there were 10,000 bodies under destroyed buildings in the strip.

Mahmoud Basal, spokesman for the Palestinian Civil Emergency Service in Gaza, said at least 2,840 bodies had been melted but no traces were left.

Meanwhile, many displaced residents have returned to find their homes almost unrecognizable from the devastation caused by more than 15 months of war.

"(The extent of the damage) is shocking, there are countless (people) shocked by what happened to their homes. It's devastation, complete devastation," Mohamed Gomaa, who lost a brother and nephew in the war, told Reuters .

"It wasn't like an earthquake or a flood, no no. What was happening was a war of extermination."

Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council on Monday that more than 630 aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip on Sunday, with at least 300 heading to the north of the enclave, which the U.N. says is facing famine.

As more aid flows into the Palestinian enclave, residents flock to the markets, with some expressing joy at lower prices and the emergence of new foods such as imported chocolate.

"Prices have dropped, the war has ended and crossings are open for more goods," Aya Mohammed Zaki, a displaced Gaza City woman who has taken refuge in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, told Reuters.

Attention has also begun to turn to the reconstruction of the coastal enclave, which the Israeli military destroyed in retaliation for the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

According to Israeli statistics, these attacks killed 1,139 people, of whom approximately 250 were taken prisoner to Gaza.

A damage assessment released by the United Nations this month showed that cleaning up the more than 50 million tons of rubble left behind by Israel's bombing could take 21 years and cost up to $1.2 billion.

A United Nations report last year said rebuilding Gaza's destroyed homes would take until at least 2040, but could drag on for decades. The ruins are believed to be contaminated with asbestos, as some refugee camps attacked during the war are known to have been built with this material.

The conflict has set back development in Gaza by 69 years, a United Nations Development Program official said on Sunday.

Ceasefire basically maintained, isolated incidents

Gaza residents and officials said on Monday that the ceasefire appeared to be largely holding despite the violence.

Two Palestinian civilians, including a teenage boy, were killed by Israeli snipers in Rafah, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.

Eight Palestinians, including children, were also wounded in Israeli shootings in Rafah on Monday.

The Israeli military said it fired warning shots at people approaching soldiers deployed under the ceasefire.

Meanwhile, Israeli media are now paying increasing attention to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's handling of the Gaza war, said Mohamed Elmasri, a professor of media studies at Doha Graduate School.

“They call it a huge failure,” he told Al Jazeera, stressing that Netanyahu had failed to fulfill his promise to eliminate Hamas.

The scholar added: “Now he must watch on all the television screens as Hamas fighters in camouflage uniforms escort Israeli prisoners to their vehicles.”

"He is looking at Hamas continuing to rule Gaza and overseeing the security situation, the humanitarian aid situation, and everything about the ceasefire. Hamas has not been eliminated, and that is very embarrassing for Netanyahu."