While some Palestinians were able to dig up miscellaneous items deep under the rubble, many felt hopeless after dreaming about the possibility of returning to their homes and repairing or rebuilding them.

Aerial footage on Monday showed the devastation caused to the southern Gaza city of Rafah as Palestinians began returning to what was left of their homes. The truce between Israel and Hamas took hold on Sunday and has left skies above Gaza and Israel silent for the first time in over a year,