With the ceasefire in Gaza and Israeli forces withdrawing from some areas, harrowing searches are taking place for the remains of the missing and dead.
The Palestinian health authorities estimate that 10,000 people are missing. Search teams are sifting through rubble and wreckage piece by piece, to find human remains, clothing and personal possessions that will identify the dead.
Often what is recovered is no more than a pile of bones. Israel’s high explosive bombs have blasted and mangled into pieces many of the dead. The remains and scraps of clothing are placed in white body bags upon which are written the Arabic word "majhoul" meaning unidentified.
Relatives and friends of the missing are enduring the terrible ordeal of viewing these remnants of human lives as they seek answers.
Jane Hill presents BBC News at Ten reporting by Fergal Keane.
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