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It all began when, just hours after Hamas' attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, Israel launched airstrikes on the Gaza Strip. Just 20 days later, Israel began its destructive ground invasion. The war on Gaza has continued for more than a year, producing one of the most devastating humanitarian crises in history as almost two million residents flee constant bombardment and fight starvation. Hamas' attack killed around 1,200 people and took about 250 individuals hostage; for its part, Israel's military response has killed more than 44,000 Palestinians.
This gallery explores what's left of Gaza. Click on for more.
There are 2.3 million people living in the Gaza Strip. Nestled between Israel and Egypt, it is 41 km (25 mi) long and 10 km (6 mi) wide and is considered one of the most densely populated places on Earth.
Gaza’s airspace, waters, and land have been under strict Israeli control for nearly two decades.
Before the war, life was already very difficult in Gaza due to decades of the Israeli-Egyptian blockade.
Since Hamas’ attacks on Israel, these restrictions have worsened and become amplified.
Gaza has been left in ruins following relentless Israeli airstrikes.
UN Secretary General António Guterres recently stated that he’s "never seen such a level of death and destruction as we are seeing in Gaza in the last few months."
The UN estimates that the war has displaced, at least once, 90% of Gaza's population.
Nearly 75% of infrastructure in Gaza has either been partially or completely destroyed.
According to the United Nations, nearly 90% of all schools have been decimated in the Strip, with the remaining turned into temporary shelter.
While official numbers of deaths have been released by the Gaza Ministry of Health, tens of thousands of Palestinians remain unaccounted for, presumed dead under rubble.
With little civil recourse and the destruction of 92% of primary roads in Gaza, finding and identifying the missing has become a nearly impossible task.
The UN estimates that over 37 million metric tons of debris has littered the Strip over the course of the last year.
In addition to buildings and other critical infrastructure, most of the Strip’s farms have been destroyed. In conjunction with Israel’s position to place additional pressure on the Strip by blocking the entrance of most aid, these conditions have resulted in a mass famine.
Of the little aid that has been allowed to enter, aid workers and crowds attempting to obtain aid have also faced bombardments. Aid has sometimes been airdropped, which has also resulted in death and injury of Palestinians.
Most of the Strip’s medical professionals have either been killed or injured. With the targeting of hospitals and a lack of equipment and supplies, medical treatment has been largely reduced to the bare minimum.
The destruction of hospitals has left the nearly 100,000 injured to fend for themselves and attempt recovery without resources.
In December 2023, Israel divided the Gaza Strip, ordering often inconsistent evacuations and designating safe zones.
Due to the destruction of telecommunications and electricity infrastructure, Gazans have largely relied on discrepant leaflets dropped from the sky to decide where they should go.
The mass concentration of Gaza’s residents in safe zones without access to clean water or medical treatment has resulted in an emergence of a number of diseases that haven’t been seen in the region for decades.
These so-called safe zones have also been subjected to bombardments, creating a greater sense of desperation for Gaza’s residents.
The lack of official information flow has left Gazans subjected to contradictory information. News agencies that try to report on military activities have little resources to ensure information reaches the population, while many Palestinian journalists have also been targeted and international journalists are barred from entering.
Researchers in the US have relied primarily on data from the European Space Agency and NASA to map the damage.
Analyzing data obtained from satellites takes a great deal of time. According to Corey Scher of the City University of New York, this process can take weeks.
The constant displacement of people, food, and water insecurity, in conjunction with ongoing bombardments, makes analyses quickly outdated.
The Oregon State Conflict Ecology lab notes that the level of damage and destruction that is seen in Gaza today is one of the most destructive the lab has analyzed.
Water and sanitation systems are nearly entirely non-existent. Soil has been contaminated due to bombardments, and the accumulation of debris leaves the Strip with little hope of recovery.
The UN estimates it will take nearly two decades just to clear debris from the Strip.
The recent escalation of violence in the north of Gaza leaves hundreds of thousands trapped. Israel’s alleged plan, named the "General’s Plan," to empty the top half of the Strip, considers all those who stay as combatants, regardless of their ability to leave, with a complete cutoff of aid to the area.
With no end to the war in sight, the expansion of bombardment into Lebanon, and looming threats of a regional war, the return to normal life in Gaza has been suspended while destruction remains ongoing.
Sources: (NPR) (Al Jazeera) (CBS News) (BBC) (United Nations) (Le Monde) (AP News)
See also: The worst refugee crises in history
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LIFESTYLE Conflict
It all began when, just hours after Hamas' attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, Israel launched airstrikes on the Gaza Strip. Just 20 days later, Israel began its destructive ground invasion. The war on Gaza has continued for more than a year, producing one of the most devastating humanitarian crises in history as almost two million residents flee constant bombardment and fight starvation. Hamas' attack killed around 1,200 people and took about 250 individuals hostage; for its part, Israel's military response has killed more than 44,000 Palestinians.
This gallery explores what's left of Gaza. Click on for more.