After the fragile ceasefire brought the Israel’s relentless attacks on Gaza civilians to a halt at 0500 GMT, medics began digging through the remains of hundreds of homes, and uncovered more than 100 bodies underneath the debris in the besieged Gaza Strip, medics said.
The grim discoveries pushed the Palestinian death toll in Gaza to more than 1,000.
Palestinian ambulances sped into Gaza neighborhoods that have been too dangerous to enter for days.
Nine hours into the truce, they had found the bodies of more than 100 people in the debris, pushing the death toll to 1,000 Palestinians since Israel invade the Gaza Strip on July 8.
Palestinians ventured onto Gaza's streets after the truce took effect, checking homes they had fled.
In many places they found astonishing devastation: buildings levelled, entire blocks of homes completely wiped out by Israeli bombardment.
In northern Beit Hanun, even the hospital was badly damaged by Israel’s shelling, and the charred body of a paramedic was discovered as emergency workers combed the debris for more dead.
Trails of blood on the ground were crossed by Israeli tank tracks.
There were similar scenes in Shejaiya, which has been subjected to days of relentless Israeli tank fire.
RA/SHI