135 Palestinian bodies recovered from rubble in Gaza after ceasefire

International Desk | PNN:
After the ceasefire was announced to end Israel’s two-year bloody assault, recovery operations have begun across the Gaza Strip. On Saturday (October 11), the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that at least 135 bodies of Palestinians have been recovered from the rubble.

Local authorities said that several more bodies have arrived at various hospitals across Gaza. Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City received 43 bodies, while Al-Ahli Arab Hospital received 60. The remaining bodies were sent to hospitals in Nuseirat, Deir al-Balah, and Khan Yunus.

Medical officials reported that 19 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Friday, and one previously injured person later succumbed to their injuries. In southern Gaza, 16 members of the Gabun family were killed in a bombing at their home. Additional casualties were reported near Sheikh Radwan and areas close to Khan Yunus.

After Israeli forces withdrew from certain areas of Gaza, Al-Rashid Road was reopened, allowing thousands of displaced Palestinians to begin the long and arduous journey back amid the rubble.

Al Jazeera correspondent Tarek Abu Ajyum reported, “Children, women, the elderly, carrying belongings in cars, rickshaws, and even donkey carts, are rushing towards Gaza City. Many families are setting up tents again where their homes once stood.”

He added, “Although this return is historic, it deepens the humanitarian crisis. There is an acute shortage of shelter, food, and clean water.”

Gaza City is now effectively uninhabitable, with no infrastructure, electricity, or safe water remaining—only ashes and piles of destroyed walls.

Resident Naeem Irhim said, “My son has been killed, and all my daughters are injured. Yet, I will return to Gaza. We will set up tents and survive as best we can.”

Another returnee, Aisha Shamakha, said, “We want to see our homes—the ones that collapsed at the start of the war. Our children are buried underground, but this ceasefire gives us hope to survive.”

Al Jazeera correspondent Ibrahim Al-Khalil said, “Faces show both tears and smiles—people don’t know if their houses are still standing, yet they return because this is their land.”

Mohammad Sharaf, a resident of Sheikh Radwan, said, “We returned to rubble; everything has changed. I thought we were leaving for a few days, but when we came back, there was nothing left.”

Despite the inhumane destruction, massive loss of life, and grief, the return of Gaza’s residents shows no one can erase them from their land.