GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: The bodies of more than 132 Palestinians were recovered from the rubble across the Gaza Strip in the first half of a 12-hour humanitarian truce on Saturday, medics said.

Emergency services spokesman Ashraf Al-Qudra said the bodies had been brought to hospitals in north, central and southern Gaza, as well as Gaza City, but that the toll was expected to rise further.

The grim discoveries raised the toll in Gaza on the 19th day of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group to more than 1,000, Qudra said.

In northern Gaza, particularly the area of Beit Hanun, medics recovered at least 32 bodies, Qudra said early on Saturday, along with at least 13 people in the central areas of Bureij, Deir Al-Balah and Nusseirat.

Gaza City’s Shifa hospital received 29 bodies from the eastern neighborhoods of Shejaiya, Zaitun and Tuffah, and 11 others were taken to hospitals from the southern areas of Khan Yunis and Rafah, Qudra added.

Many bodies were charred and covered in dust as they were pulled from the rubble.

4-hour truce extension

Israel, meanwhile, agreed to extend a humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip by a further four hours, an Israeli Cabinet minister said on Saturday

The minister, Yuval Steinitz, spoke Saturday on Israeli television station Channel 10.

The initial lull agreed to by Israel and Hamas had begun at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) Saturday.

Steinitz confirmed reports that Israel decided to extend it by four hours, until midnight Saturday.

He says the decision was made by the Israeli prime minister and defense minister.

Steinitz says a further extension would be considered at a Cabinet meeting later Saturday.

Israel made clear that despite the truce, its military would carry on searching for hidden tunnels used by militants. Hamas and its allies agreed to the terms and there were no reports of major flare-ups through the day.

Kerry, who has been spearheading international efforts to end the fighting, left Cairo overnight and took his diplomatic push to Paris, where he met the foreign ministers of France, Italy, Britain, Germany, Turkey and Qatar.

“All of us call on the parties to extend the humanitarian cease-fire that is currently under way,” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said.

Israel said five more of its soldiers were killed in pre-truce fighting in Gaza, bringing the army death toll to 40 as troops battled militants in the tiny Mediterranean enclave that is home to 1.8 million Palestinians.

Three civilians, including two Israeli citizens and a Thai laborer, have been killed by rockets fired from Gaza.

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 Younes and Shejaia — a district east of Gaza City that has witnessed huge clashes between Israeli troops and militants.

Eid Al-Fitr

Before the truce started, militants fired a barrage of rockets out of Gaza, triggering sirens across much of southern and central Israel. No injuries were reported and the Iron Dome interceptor system shot down some missiles.

When the guns fell silent, many Gaza residents rushed out of their homes and lined up outside banks to withdraw cash. Gaza City market was packed with people buying food and clothes for the coming Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Fitr.

“For us the Eid is going to be another day of war, another day of grief. I hope it all ends before we lose more people,” said Shaima Mahmoud who was shopping with her four-year-old daughter for a holiday dress.

Israel’s and Hamas’s positions regarding a long-lasting halt to hostilities remain far apart.

Hamas wants an end to an Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza before agreeing to halt hostilities. Israeli officials said any cease-fire must allow the military to carry on hunting down Hamas’s tunnel network that criss-crosses the Gaza border.

Israel says some of the tunnels reached into Israel and were meant to carry out attacks on Israelis. Other underground passages serve as weapon caches and Hamas bunkers.

The Gaza turmoil has stoked tensions amongst Palestinians in East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.

Medics said eight Palestinians were killed in incidents near the West Bank cities of Nablus and Hebron on Friday — the sort of death toll reminiscent of previous uprisings against Israel’s prolonged military rule there, which shows no sign of ending.