More than 130 bodies pulled from Gaza rubble in truce

GAZA CITY: The bodies of more than 132 Palestinians were recovered from the rubble across the Gaza Strip in the first half of a 12-hour humanitarian truce on Saturday, medics said.

Emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said the bodies had been brought to hospitals in north, central and southern Gaza, as well as Gaza City, but that the toll was expected to rise further.

The grim discoveries raised the toll in Gaza on the 19th day of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group to more than 1,000, Qudra said.

In northern Gaza, particularly the area of Beit Hanun, medics recovered at least 32 bodies, Qudra said early on Saturday, along with at least 13 people in the central areas of Bureij, Deir al-Balah and Nusseirat.

Gaza City´s Shifa hospital received 29 bodies from the eastern neighbourhoods of Shejaiya, Zaitun and Tuffah, and 11 others were taken to hospitals from the southern areas of Khan Yunis and Rafah, Qudra added.

Many bodies were charred and covered in dust as they were pulled from the rubble.