After a year of war in Gaza, people whose homes were damaged now go about their everyday lives looking for safety and basic necessities. Eighty-six percent of Gaza’s pre-war population, or 1.9 million people, have been displaced, according to the UN. Many of them are living in camps for refugees with no access to food and medical care.
One year after the Israel-Hamas war began, hospitals in Gaza are finding it difficult to provide even the most basic care due to the destruction of much of the country’s medical infrastructure.Al Aqsa hospital, which is supposed to service a million people, is one of the struggling facilities.
In an effort to root out what it claims to be Islamic Jihad and Hamas infrastructure, Israel has been assaulting the northern West Bank for nearly a week. Palestinians say that the Israeli operation has destroyed roads in Jenin and killed at least twenty people. Tensions are escalating in the West Bank, according to Israeli analysts.
Israelis have reacted with shock and anger after finding the bodies of six slain Israeli hostages in a southern Gaza tunnel.Some blame the Israeli government for not reaching a cease-fire deal with Hamas earlier. Israel’s largest labor union announced a general strike starting Monday until the government signs a deal.
The site of this year’s Nova music festival has turned into a place of pilgrimage as Israel approaches the anniversary of the Hamas strike on October 7, which sparked the Gaza War.At the site, Hamas killed 364 young people and took 44 hostage.
The indirect negotiations for a Gaza cease-fire resumed on Thursday in Doha, Qatar, despite Hamas’ declaration that it will not attend. Many in Israel believe that after Hamas’ surprise attack on southern Israel on October 7, this may be the last opportunity for an agreement that would free the 115 hostages that Hamas is still holding in Gaza. However, significant gaps between the two sides remain.
The appointment of Yahya Sinwar as the leader of Hamas has left Israelis even less hopeful about a cease-fire agreement, as they consider Sinwar as an even more extremist figure than his predecessor.
Since Israel-Hamas’ war began, the keffiyeh, a Palestinian symbol, has drawn more attention from around the world. The Arab headdress, which was formerly just a simple article of Bedouin clothing,has taken on symbolic meaning. To some, it represents resistance; to others, it should be outlawed; and to still others, it is a piece of high fashion.
Last week, relatives of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza marked 300 days since the start of the war with marches and meetings, raising the alarm that time is running out as Israel braces for possible attacks by Iran and Hezbollah. With almost 100,000 cases of hepatitis, health officials in Gaza warn of a growing health crisis as the death toll exceeds 40,000.
During his visit to Washington this week to address members of Congress and attend talks at the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced criticism from a press advocacy group. Dozens of journalists have been killed while covering the Gaza war, and some in the media blame Netanyahu for this.