In pictures: Israel subjects Gaza to 100 days of total war

First modification: 01/14/2024 – 13:10

6 min

October 7, 2023 marks a turning point in Middle East relations. It was the day on which militants from the Islamist group Hamas, whose political arm has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, entered Israeli soil by land, sea and air.

An operation that, according to the first investigations, was forged for years and of which Israeli officials they could have previously been aware. The offensive, which took the world, including Israel, by surprise, left more than 1,200 dead and more than 200 hostages by Hamas, according to the Government of Israel. It was the moment in which the security of one of the most fortified countries in the world was compromised. The bloodiest attack in the history of Israel since its establishment as a sovereign state in 1948.

Since then 100 days have passed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted to the Palestinian group's attacks by declaring total war. A retaliation that has left the already besieged Gaza Strip under a blanket of destruction.

With 2.26 Palestinians living in the 365-square-kilometer enclave, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Gaza is one of the most densely populated places in the world. Since October it has been under continuous bombardment. Israel's goal: “annihilate” Hamas at any cost.

To date, the Gaza Ministry of Health confirms that more than 23,700 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire. Most of them civilians. More than 9,600 minors. There are also more than 60,000 injured. A war that focused for weeks in the north of the Gaza Strip, which houses the capital of the enclave and also where Israeli and Western intelligence affirm that Hamas had its main military strongholds.

The Israeli authorities called to evacuate the north, in the face of a ground invasion. This led to the massive, forcible displacement of hundreds of thousands of people into southern Gaza, which Israel said was safe. Until it wasn't. In recent weeks, the bombings have intensified there. The Rafah crossing, on the border with Egypt, the only exit route for Palestinians and entry for the scarce international humanitarian aid, remains closed to civilian traffic. From Cairo they refuse to attend to a mass exodus of people.

However, the humanitarian situation in the Strip is desperate. Especially for boys and girls. The director of Save The Childen stated a few weeks ago that an average of 100 minors die every day in the besieged Palestinian enclave. The entire child population, that is, 1.1 million people, lacks decent humanitarian assistance. More than 1,000 children have suffered amputations. More than 370 schools have been bombed. Even those of the UN.

Unicef, for its part, points out a “triple deadly threat.” War, hunger and disease due to lack of access to drinking water are a fatal combination for the Gazan population.

The impact of the war also reaches the information world. The lack of access to foreign press to Gaza by Israel and the murder of more than 100 journalists since October 7 condition the way of telling the dimension of the conflict.

100 days of war that also leave an uncertain scenario in the regional panorama, with an escalation of tensions led in recent days by the Houthi rebels of Yemen, Shiite allies of Iran, who have been launching artillery against merchant ships in the Red Sea for several months. and have launched a British-American offensive in response. Iran keeps a low profile. Hamas's Lebanese partners, Hezbollah, pull out more rhetoric than muscle so far.

The war in Gaza enters its 100th day of…