A fragile ceasefire has brought respite to Gazans exhausted by two years of fighting, but even without the daily bombing they are struggling to live amid the catastrophic destruction wrought by the war.

The reconstruction task ahead is enormous, given that vast swathes of the Palestinian territory were flattened during Israel's military campaign and most of the population were displaced at least once.

Many in the southern city of Khan Yunis have now been told by Israeli forces to move again to avoid the so-called Yellow Line, behind which Israeli troops are stationed under the ceasefire deal with Hamas.

"I am tired of displacement, very tired. I prefer to die, just like my son. It is better for the dead," Riyad Abu Anza said.

AFP footage showed Palestinians carrying buckets, brooms and backpacks through a sandy neighbourhood of rubble and tents.

Abu Alaa Skeik, from Gaza City, said his house was completely destroyed during the gruelling war, sparked by Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The 52-year-old said that his family now lived in a tent next to what was left of his home.

"At first, our struggle was with the war -- we were escaping death and bombardment. But today, our struggle is with life itself," he said.

"We want to provide food, get water, rebuild our home and send our children back to school. We are exhausted," he added.

Umm Mohammed Muhareb, who was displaced to the coastal area of Al-Mawasi, said that fear lingered despite the fighting largely halting.

"The situation now is calmer than before," the 45-year-old told AFP.

"We don't hear the sounds of bombing like we used to, but the fear is still in our hearts, because we never know when things might get worse again".

The truce faced its toughest test on Sunday, when Israeli forces unleashed a wave of strikes in Gaza after two soldiers were killed.

The strikes killed at least 45 Palestinians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.