As Saturday’s temporary truce took hold, Palestinians came out onto Gaza’s destroyed streets to recover their dead and stock up on food supplies.<br /><br />Dozens of bodies have been found under rubble since the fighting stopped, according to local health officials.<br /><br />Sheltering at a UN-run facility, Alaa Zaied called for a long-term ceasefire. <br /><br />“We don’t want to keep waiting for a truce day after day. We are in a very, very bad situation here. We are homeless and living in the schools. Our children are very tired.”<br /><br />“When they said there would be a 12 hour ceasefire, we got ready to return home because if there is a truce, we want to feel free,” said another man who has found refuge in the school, Mesbah al-Sultan. <br /><br />“The Arab nations are all asleep, just sitting doing nothing – the kings and heads of state. Shame on them!”<br /><br />In the shadow of Israeli tanks, Gaza’s people have been searching through the debris for their belongings. <br /><br />In Israel, the truce and conflict itself have sparked mixed reactions.<br /><br />“Personally, I think everybody is fed up with the situation,” said Tel Aviv resident Shahar Binon. <br /><br />“I think we have done whatever we need to do – both parties, by the way, not only the Israeli party. And I think we have to end it and we have finished our business there.”<br /><br />But fellow Tel Aviv dweller Alex Guttman expressed exasperation with Hamas.<br /><br />“A ceasefire this time, the second time or the third time, maybe, is like giving another bullet to someone that tried to kill you on the first time and missed.”<br /><br />Nineteen days into this conflict, neither Israelis nor Palestinians know when or how it will end.
