Israelis and Palestinians end dark year, with no end in sight to war
- Palestinians hope the war will end soon so that they can return to their homes, while relatives of Israeli hostages urge the government to bring their loved ones home
- The war has left thousands displaced, with the UN saying Gaza is ‘just weeks away’ from famine
Israelis and Palestinians end a dark year on Sunday, with no end in sight to the deadliest military offensive on Gaza, triggered by Hamas’ bloodiest attack on Israel.
There has been no respite from Israel’s air raids, artillery fire or ground fighting with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, to the despair of Palestinians surviving the onslaught.
“We were hoping that 2024 would arrive under better auspices and that we would be able to celebrate the new year at home with our families,” said Mahmoud Abou Shahma in a camp for displaced people in Rafah, on the Egyptian border.
“We hope that the war will end and that we will be able to return to our homes and live in peace”, said the 33-year-old from Khan Yunis, an epicentre of the conflict in the south of Gaza.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says the Israeli military campaign has killed at least 21,672 people, mostly women and children – by far the heaviest death toll of any Israeli operation.
On Sunday, the ministry reported numerous deaths in overnight strikes on central Gaza’s Zawayda and the nearby Al-Mughazi refugee camp.