Gaza marks 1,000 days of war
It’s the 1000th day of war since a Hamas-led attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza. Other conflicts have emerged in the region, and fragile ceasefires show scars of persistent attacks. Both Israelis and Palestinians are weary of the strain.
The fate of over 2 million Palestinians in Gaza, largely displaced and living amid ruins, remains uncertain. Israeli forces controlled over half of the territory under the ceasefire that took effect on Oct. 10, but Israel’s government has expanded that and says it aims to hold 70 percent.
Few people can get in or out. Further ceasefire steps, including Hamas’ disarmament and the immense task of reconstruction, have stalled.
“Much more needs to be done so that even a semblance of normality can come back, and we are far, far away from this,” the International Committee of the Red Cross regional director, Nicolas von Arx, said this week.
Israeli strikes have lessened considerably since the ceasefire took effect, but they continue almost daily.
Gaza’s Health Ministry counted 1,053 Palestinians dead since the ceasefire as of Tuesday, including over 350 women and children. In recent days, they included a teenage girl on her way to school and a mother with her 1-year-old daughter.
Increased deadly risks
“Where is this ceasefire they keep talking about?! Shame on them,” one Palestinian, Wisal Abu Khater, said this week after another deadly strike, lashing out at Arabs who she said have failed Gaza’s people and are busy watching World Cup games instead.
The United Nations on Wednesday warned that the Israeli expansion in Gaza increases deadly risks for civilians in “areas lacking clear demarcation on the ground.”
The Health Ministry said over 3,400 people have been wounded since the ceasefire. The ministry is part of the Hamas-led government and maintains detailed casualty records seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts. It does not give a breakdown of civilians and militants but says women and children make up roughly half the dead.
Israel’s military says it targets Hamas and other militants, often asserting they were planning attacks, and accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields.
The Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostage. All hostages or their remains have been freed or handed over, some of them recounting abuses. Israel’s retaliation has killed a total of 73,066 Palestinians as of Tuesday, Gaza’s Health Ministry says.
Near their limit
Palestinians in Gaza say they are near their limit. Sheltering in vast tent camps with basic if any utilities, or in the skeletons of bombed-out buildings, they continue to live amid the hum of Israeli drones and the daily threat of strikes.
The ceasefire was meant to bring a surge in humanitarian aid like medicines and fuel. Aid groups and others say that has not happened. All of Gaza’s border crossings remain tightly restricted, and at times they have closed completely. The UN last month said 17 hospitals are still not functional.
“Cumbersome” Israeli approvals and customs procedures limit crucial supplies, UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said last month, adding that even prosthetic limbs have been affected by concerns about having a potential “dual” use as weapons.
Famine was declared in Gaza City last August, but food security experts later said there were “notable improvements” after the ceasefire. The Israeli military body responsible for coordinating civilian affairs in Gaza, COGAT, said on Wednesday that “the quantities of food that are being brought in far exceed the nutritional needs of the Gazan civilian population.”
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