Rescue teams in Gaza have retrieved the bodies of at least 135 Palestinians from beneath the rubble, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

The ceasefire temporarily halted the Israeli regime’s bombardment, allowing emergency workers to reach areas previously cut off by relentless air strikes.

Dozens of bodies were recovered from hospitals across Gaza — 43 at al-Shifa Hospital and 60 at al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City — with others taken to medical centers in Nuseirat, Deir el-Balah, and Khan Younis.

Medical officials said at least 19 more Palestinians were killed on Friday in Israeli strikes that continued until the ceasefire began at noon.

Among the victims were 16 members of the Ghaboun family, killed when their home south of Gaza City was obliterated in the early hours.

Another resident died in Sheikh Radwan, while two others were killed near Khan Younis.

It remains unclear if any of these attacks occurred after the truce formally started.

As the Israeli forces withdrew from parts of the devastated enclave and the coastal al-Rashid Street reopened, tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians began returning to the ruins of their homes.

Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum described the scene as “children, women, elderly, cars, vans, donkey carts loaded with furniture” heading toward Gaza City.

“Families removed their makeshift tents to set them up again over the wreckage of their destroyed houses,” he said.

He added that while the return was “historic,” it must be followed by tangible steps to address Gaza’s worsening humanitarian catastrophe.

Months of Israeli bombardment have left Gaza City in total ruin — no infrastructure, no clean water, no electricity, only the skeletal remains of homes and memories.

“There is now an urgent need for makeshift tents and mobile shelters for returning families,” said Al Jazeera’s Moath Kahlout from Deir el-Balah.

“Carrying what little they have, they march toward the unknown.”

Despite the destruction, Palestinians continue to show resilience and defiance.

Naim Irheem, loading his tent into his car, said: “I’m going to Gaza City even though there are no conditions for life there – no infrastructure, no fresh water. Everything is extremely difficult, but we must go back.

My son was killed, all my daughters were wounded. Still, I want to return. We’ll pitch a tent and live in it, however it can be done.”

For others, the journey home is an act of survival and defiance against erasure.

“For generations, Palestinians have shown remarkable resilience under Israeli occupation,” said Kahlout.

“Each step back is not just a return, but an act of defiance and hope.”

Aisha Shamakh, another survivor of the regime’s genocidal war, said: “We want to see our homes, our homes that were destroyed at the start of the war. Floors have fallen on our children, but I can’t describe to you the joy [of the ceasefire].”

Al Jazeera’s Ibrahim al-Khalil reported “exhausted faces filled with both grief and joy” as people made their way back to Gaza City.

“Many told me they don’t know if their homes are still standing or reduced to rubble, yet they return clinging to hope,” he said.

Ahmed Abu Shanab, who made the long journey north, said: “We suffered a lot. We didn’t have enough space and we literally could not sleep.”

Another resident, Maryam Abu Jabal, added: “We returned to the unknown, and we don’t know if our homes still exist. We hope to God that our home is still standing.”

Mohammed Sharaf, returning to the obliterated Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, said: “Everything has changed. We have returned to a disaster we cannot comprehend. We thought we would leave for a few days, now we’re back and we have found nothing.”

Even amid the death and desolation, Palestinians’ will to return endures — a defiant rejection of the Israeli regime’s attempt to erase them from their homeland.