Forty-two thousand, one hundred and twenty-six

Amelia Casey-Rerhaye, BA Arabic, Deputy Editor 28/10/2024

At the time of writing*: 42,126 Palestinians dead, including 16,765 children. Just under 100,000 Palestinians injured, and over 10,000 missing. 

Israel’s violent reaction to the October 7th attacks has sent shock waves through the international community. For a year the world has watched the genocide in Gaza go from bad, to worse, to unthinkable, as it expands well beyond the boundaries of the Strip. 

7th October 2023

A year ago, Hamas blindsided Israel with a brutal attack, killing 1,139 people and injuring at least 8,730. The victims were mostly civilians in the coordinated offensive previously believed impossible for the group. 

Within hours, Israel promised a retaliation of mass power. On October 13th evacuation warnings were issued to the northern population of the Gaza Strip. The 1.1 million inhabitants were instructed to evacuate south via designated routes into a ‘safe zone.’

Within a week, approximately 2,500 civilians were killed. 

Despite a brief ceasefire in November, the ground assault was advancing in northern Gaza at the beginning of December. Civilians were forced further south as the IDF advanced to Khan Younis in tanks where guerilla warfare erupted between Hamas militants and Israeli soldiers. The BBC found that the total area of Israel’s announced evacuation zones covers 80% of the Gaza Strip. Despite designating ‘safe zones’, Israel has continuously bombed indiscriminately, targeting hospitals, schools, universities and residential buildings, as well as known aid worker sites where civilians collect the little relief that reaches them.  

UN Declares Humanitarian Crisis 

As the bombardments and ground invasion of Gaza raged on, thousands walked to the UN and UNRWA refugee camps in the areas of Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah. 

Aid trucks were not allowed into the Strip until October 21st, when eventually Israel agreed to open the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt. However, the capacity of the crossing zone falls drastically short of what is necessary to prevent a humanitarian crisis. 

The UN is now declaring that the entire population of Gaza, 2.3 million people,is at risk of famine. 

90% of the Gazan population are displaced. 60% of residential buildings are damaged or destroyed- This means that 1.9 million people are living out of their homes amongst rubble, in tents and partially destroyed buildings. Among them, 95,000 are injured, with little to no medical care available to them. A quarter, or 22,500, of those injured, are believed to have life-long difficulties and require rehabilitation or assisted care. Yet most roads in Gaza are damaged, and most commercial buildings are destroyed - an estimated 57% of these buildings including hospitals in Gaza are now either completely demolished or damaged. 

South Africa brings case to ICJ 

‘We will always stand with Israel against threats to its community’ stated Joe Biden in the face of the ICJ ruling. South Africa brought its case against Israel before the International Court of Justice on December 29th, 2023. Despite the application for three arrest warrants, including one for Benjamin Netanyahu, so far there have been no repercussions. The complete disregard for both human life and international law exhibited by the Israeli authorities has been extensively condemned, seemingly to no avail.

Rishi Sunak declared ‘horrific irony’ in reaction to the ICJ case ruling, however on January 26th the World Court stated that Israel’s actions may be violating the Genocide Convention, established post-Second World War. 

War on Journalists 

The Israeli authorities banned foreign journalists from entering the Strip as the conflict continued, the assumption being that Israel wanted to go about their disproportionate onslaught unwatched. Yet, despite telecoms in Gaza being scarce, young local journalists took the responsibility to document the genocide. Using social media platforms like Instagram and X, Plestia Alaqad (22), Motaz Azaiza (24), Bisan Owda (25), and many more document their everyday situations in the war-torn strip. Owda starts most of her videos with a version of ‘I am still alive’. Alaqad often tells the camera of her terror and uncertainty. Azaiza and other photojournalists ensured social media was flooded daily with graphic images of innocent Palestinians; distraught parents, mutilated children, and unrecognisable dead bodies. Many of these journalists have been targeted by the IDF.

Hasan Hamad was an independent journalist filming in Gaza. He had received multiple threatening phone calls and Whatsapp messages, demanding he stop filming and that ‘this is his last warning’. He continued documenting Israel’s bombardments and violence in Jabalia, northern Gaza. On the 6th of October 2024, after reporting on a ground assault in the area, he returned home only to be blown apart by a targeted artillery shell launched into his bedroom. He was 19 years old. 

In 2023, 99 journalists died globally, 72 of whom were killed by Israel in Gaza. According to a CPJ report in December 2023, more journalists were killed by Israel’s attack on Gaza than ever reported in one year. At the time of writing, 128 journalists have been killed in Gaza. 

Lebanon

This conflict has involved Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as the Houthis in Yemen since it began. Long-standing allies of Hamas, and all Iranian-backed proxy groups, Israel has repeatedly labelled them as threats to the state, along with Hamas. 

Israel evacuated approximately 60,000 civilians from the Lebanese border region as a result of Hezbollah’s targeted attacks on military bases in the northern region. 

On September 17th hundreds of pagers exploded in the pockets of Hezbollah members and healthcare workers. Since the Pager explosions, Israel has continuously bombed Lebanon, no longer limited to the south of the country, with strikes  targeting Beirut as well as numerous other major cities. It is estimated by the Lebanese Health Ministry that Israel has killed 2,163 Lebanese people, a number hard-pressed to find in mainstream media.

2.1 million people in Lebanon have been displaced, 86,600 of whom have fled the southern regions. Israel has warned them not to return. 

*Date written: 11 October 2024