CASUALTIES

Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qidra said rescue teams had taken advantage of the truce to search wrecked neighbourhoods and had recovered some 147 bodies.

Stunned residents of Beit Hanoun wandered through destroyed streets lined with damaged houses or mounds of rubble where once whole buildings had stood.

"Pull yourself together, be strong! Aren't you used to this by now?" one man barked at a sobbing younger relative, only to break down himself. "God help us!" he moaned.

Israeli tanks stood by as people searched through the debris for their belongings, packing whatever they could, blankets, furniture and clothes into taxis, trucks, rickshaws and donkey carts before fleeing the town.

Naser Tattar, director of Gaza's main Shifa hospital, said most of the bodies recovered on Saturday came from Beit Hanoun, Khan Younis and Shejaia - a district east of Gaza City that has witnessed huge clashes between Israeli troops and militants.