Palestinian residents of Gaza are returning to massive devastation on the second day of a 72-hour ceasefire. Estimates of the reconstruction costs run as high as $6 billion. More than 10,000 homes have been destroyed, and more than 5,000 have seen major damage. The Gaza Health Ministry says nearly 1,900 people were killed. Residents have been searching the rubble to retrieve possessions and dig out decomposing bodies. A resident of Rafah said dead children were found.

Mohammad Abu Rjal: “We came here in the morning and found destruction everywhere. A mosque, Qur’an books, decomposed children were found under the rubble after five days. Municipality buildings that used to serve the people were destroyed. They want to destroy all the institutions of the Gaza Strip.”