More than 45,000 Palestinians killed, half of whom were women and children. Some 10,000 bodies buried under 40 million tonnes of rubble. More than 95,000 people injured in a land where half of all hospitals have been damaged or destroyed.
Beyond the broken bodies and obliterated buildings, another chilling statistic: 96 per cent of children feel their death is imminent, and almost half want to die, according to a study released this month.
And the death toll keeps rising as 2.3 million people criss-cross the blasted land, seeking shelter from the daily Israeli airstrikes that pound an area just 45km long and 10km wide on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea.
Experts warn of imminent famine in parts of Gaza, a claim Israel has said is based on “partial, biased data.”
As US and Arab mediators tried to hammer out a ceasefire in late December, the bombs kept falling and international condemnation intensified, with Human Rights Watch becoming the second major rights group in weeks to use the word genocide to describe the actions of Israel in Gaza.
In early December, Amnesty International accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians, saying it had reached the conclusion after months of analysing incidents and statements of Israeli officials.
Israel has repeatedly rejected any accusation of genocide, saying it has respected international law and has a right to defend itself after the Hamas-led attack from Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, that precipitated the war.
In that attack, approximately 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were taken hostage.
Here are some end-of-year reflections from those striving to preserve life in Gaza, a place that has become synonymous with death.
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We need an immediate ceasefire and to open the borders and bring in aid so that we can begin reconstruction. If no ceasefire is reached, then this would be a death sentence on what is left of Gaza’s people.
Riham Jafari, communications coordinator, ActionAid Palestine
Amjad Shawa, Gaza-based head of the Palestinian NGO Network, a local aid group
I fled to the centre of Gaza at the beginning of war. It’s been three times now, and I am one of the people who was least displaced.
It was a hard decision to leave home, but I have children. And there was also my mother. We left the house because there was no one left in our neighbourhood. We left, and half an hour later I decided to go back home, and then an hour later we left again.
I did not expect we would be gone for 14 months. We got by. A friend hosted us at night, and we did not have anything (with us). We thought we would only be gone for a bit.
We started immediately to work on aid, even when we were displaced, trying to respond with our meagre capabilities.
We have lost hundreds of our colleagues in civil society organisations.
Famine is spreading. I get calls from families asking for wheat for bread. There is no bread. The aid that is coming in is barely enough to meet between 5 and 7 per cent of needs, at best.
Every time you have hope that there will be ceasefire, your hopes are crushed.
Mohammed Aghaalkurdi, medical programmes lead in Gaza for Medical Aid for Palestinians
Healthcare workers are facing the daily trauma of working in hospitals surrounded by death, injury and suffering. The smell of burnt flesh and the cries of pain are constant, all while essential medicines and supplies are in critically short supply, further exacerbating the pain of patients.
Specialised services for vulnerable groups have also been severely impacted. The only hospital providing cancer care in Gaza has been nonfunctional since the escalation.
As a result, thousands of patients have been lost to follow-up, and many new cancer cases go undiagnosed and untreated. It is estimated that in 2024 alone, around 2,500 new cancer cases have emerged, with no treatment options available.
Many patients have been waiting in line to get their proper treatment, and the waiting lists now have no end as more patients come in and there are fewer recoveries.
Recently, it was reported that more than 25,000 patients cannot be treated in Gaza and are in need of medical evacuation that has not been coordinated despite the pressures and efforts of relevant acting bodies.
Israa Al-Qahwaji, a Gaza-based mental health and psychosocial support coordinator with Save the Children
Our bodies are in survival mode. People, young and old, are only thinking about acquiring their basic needs. We have very limited supplies in markets, so people only think about getting food and water, nothing else.
We all wish that the war ends and we get a ceasefire for as long as possible. If this happens, we expect that a lot of people will resort to mental health support. People will start thinking about higher needs beyond eating and drinking. People will start inspecting themselves and examine their losses.
The biggest challenge is that we will not find professionals who are able to offer specialised services that are appropriate for the current needs.
We are facing this challenge already. We have people who need specialised care; they need individual attention and specialised medication. We had a gap in this before the war. Now, after the war, many mental health professionals have travelled, and this gap has increased.
We also cannot forget that the people providing mental health support are the same people who are going through very difficult situations. They need a lot of support. We need supervision and training, and we need a lot of work so these people can provide these services to the best of their abilities.
West Bank-based Riham Jafari, advocacy and communications coordinator at rights group ActionAid Palestine
For us, UNRWA (the UN Palestinian relief agency) in Gaza – across all Palestinian territories - is the vein of life for humanitarian work. When this vein of life is cut from the body, it dies, right? Implementing the (Israeli) decision (banning UNRWA from operating in its territory) is murder. It spells the end of humanitarian operations.
No humanitarian agency on Palestinian lands can replace UNRWA because they simply do not have the experience, logistical capabilities, human resources, the centres and facilities and the educational (institutions) that UNRWA has. Even if the war ends, there are almost 400,000 children in Gaza who are taught by UNRWA. What would be their fate?
We are in a state of panic, of extreme anxiety. Targeting UNRWA or preventing its work will impede humanitarian work at a time when the need is great for it. This is a sort of collective punishment that is being waged against the Palestinian residents of Gaza.
If no ceasefire is reached immediately, then there would be thousands of casualties and thousands of deaths. A lot of loss - even the loss of hope.
We need an immediate ceasefire and to open the borders and bring in aid so that we can begin reconstruction. If no ceasefire is reached, then this would be a death sentence on what is left of Gaza’s people.
Interviews have been shortened for clarity and brevity.
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