Gaza war: A year of humanitarian catastrophe and a region on fire

As we mark the first anniversary of Israel's devastating war on Gaza, the sheer scale of death, destruction, and despair is overwhelming. What began as a swift retaliation to Hamas’s October 7, 2023, incursion has expanded into a catastrophic regional conflict, engulfing Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen. Close to 42,000 people have been killed in Gaza alone, and the war shows no signs of abating. With unprecedented civilian casualties, the collapse of essential infrastructure, and widespread displacement, this war threatens to destabilize the entire region, posing urgent questions about accountability, justice, and peace.On October 7, 2023, fighters from Hamas and other Palestinian resistance groups breached the heavily fortified barrier around Gaza. They carried out an offensive in southern Israel, killing more than 1,100 people and capturing 250. This unprecedented attack humiliated Israeli intelligence, its army and its government, sparking an devastating response. Israeli airstrikes hit Gaza within hours, marking the start of a war that has persisted relentlessly for the past year.Israel's initial justification for its onslaught was the need to "defeat Hamas," but the actual target has been Gaza’s entire population. Homes, schools, hospitals, and refugee camps have been bombed repeatedly, leaving much of Gaza in ruins. In just one year, Israel has killed more women and children in Gaza than in any other conflict over the past two decades. The UN and human rights organizations, including Oxfam, have decried the atrocities, but the violence continues unabated.The past year has been punctuated by horrific incidents of mass violence. The destruction of Al-Ahli Arab Hospital on October 17, 2023, stands as one of the most tragic examples. A massive explosion, following an Israeli bombing, killed nearly 500 displaced Palestinians, many of whom were seeking shelter from Israel’s ongoing bombardment.This hospital tragedy was just one of many. In July 2024, Israel bombed Al-Mawasi, killing at least 90 displaced Palestinians, including many children. These attacks, dubbed massacres by international observers, underscore the indiscriminate nature of the violence. Over the past year, Israel has repeatedly bombed schools, refugee camps, and healthcare facilities, including the Al-Shifa Medical Complex, where 400 people died in a two-week siege between March and April. These attacks have devastated Gaza’s healthcare system, leaving it on the brink of collapse.The war’s geographic spread has been just as alarming as its human toll. On October 8, 2023, Hezbollah entered the fray, firing rockets into Israel from Lebanon in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance. Israel responded with massive airstrikes, displacing tens of thousands of Lebanese civilians and reducing much of southern Lebanon to rubble. Despite calls from world leaders to de-escalate, Israel pressed forward, with experts suggesting that its actions aimed to create a buffer zone along the border.Syria and Yemen were soon drawn into the conflict. By November 2023, the Houthis in Yemen launched their first attack on Israeli-linked shipping in the Red Sea, in what they described as solidarity with Gaza. This began a new front in the war, with the Houthis carrying out over 130 attacks on vessels in one of the world’s most crucial trade routes. Even US and British warplanes joined the fray by January 2024, bombing Houthi positions in Yemen, but these actions failed to curb the Houthis' resolve.By May 2024, the war had taken a disastrous turn as Israel launched an invasion of Rafah, a densely populated city in southern Gaza. This move came after months of threats, despite warnings from the international community that such an invasion would constitute a "red line." Rafah had become a refuge for over 1.4 mn Palestinians fleeing other parts of Gaza, but Israel’s offensive shattered any semblance of safety.The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to halt its assault on Rafah in late May, but the decision was ignored. This defiance of international law has come to define Israel’s actions throughout the war. While the Rafah border crossing to Egypt—critical for aid deliveries and for Palestinians trying to escape the violence—has been closed due to the invasion, humanitarian conditions in Gaza have deteriorated dramatically. Access to food, water, and medical supplies has been severely restricted, and thousands more are likely to die from these shortages.Perhaps the most devastating aspect of the war has been the destruction of Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure. In addition to the hospital bombings, widespread attacks on clinics and ambulances have rendered much of Gaza’s healthcare system nonfunctional. Hospitals that once provided essential services are now overwhelmed or destroyed. The Al-Shifa Medical Complex, the largest hospital in Gaza, suffered significant damage, while the number of healthcare workers killed has continued to climb.With ongoing blockades and limited access to essential supplies, doctors and nurses in Gaza are working in near-impossible conditions. The war has created an environment in which preventable deaths have become inevitable. People are dying from lack of access to clean water, electricity, and medical care, while malnutrition and disease are spreading rapidly in overcrowded refugee camps.By the summer of 2024, the war had fully engulfed Lebanon. Hezbollah’s initial involvement in October 2023 escalated dramatically after the September 2024 assassination of Hezbollah’s Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah. The attack, which leveled several apartment buildings in Beirut and killed hundreds, marked a turning point in the conflict.Nasrallah’s assassination was quickly followed by a broader Israeli campaign against southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley, and Beirut itself. Over 2,000 Lebanese civilians have been killed since the war began, most in the last few weeks. The Lebanese government estimates that as many as 1.2mn people have been displaced, creating a new refugee crisis.As the war drags on, the prospect of peace seems ever more remote. Despite a brief ceasefire in November 2023, mediated by Qatar, which allowed for some humanitarian aid and prisoner exchanges, fighting resumed quickly. The ceasefire talks have since collapsed, and there appears to be no diplomatic solution on the horizon.What is clear, however, is that the cost of the war is being borne by civilians—primarily women and children—who have been caught in the crossfire. The war’s expansion to Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen has exacerbated the suffering, destabilizing the region further and creating new battlegrounds where none existed before.Another worrying factor is the growing threat of a direct confrontation between Israel and Iran which could further inflame an already tense region.One year into this war, the human toll is impossible to ignore. Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed, and millions more have been displaced or are living in conditions that defy basic human dignity. The international community has largely failed to stop the carnage, with efforts at ceasefires and peace talks proving fleeting and ineffective.Since the breakout of the hostilities, Qatar led by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, has been calling for a ceasefire, and talks that would lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state on 1967 borders and East Jerusalem as its capital. In his address to the UN General Assembly on September 24, His Highness the Amir reminded the world that there would be no peace in the region without addressing the just Palestinian cause, which cannot be wished away or ignored any longer.What is needed now, more than ever, is a renewed commitment to justice and accountability. The world cannot continue to stand by as civilian populations are massacred, displaced, and subjected to unimaginable suffering. If there is to be any hope for peace in Gaza and the wider region, there must be a concerted effort to hold Israel accountable to its actions and to work toward a lasting solution that respects the rights and dignity of every person in the region.