Thousands of displaced Palestinians continued returning on Saturday to areas vacated by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, as the first phase of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas took effect at noon on Friday.

The Israeli government approved the deal early Friday, paving the way for an immediate halt to fighting and a partial withdrawal of Israeli troops to what is known as the “yellow line” inside Gaza.

Medical sources in Gaza said hospitals received the bodies of at least 155 Palestinians over the past 24 hours, including 135 recovered from under the rubble of destroyed buildings, as rescue operations and searches for missing persons continued across several devastated areas.