Six months of devastation in Israel’s war on Gaza with no sign of an end

Palestinians mourn after identifying corpses of relatives killed in overnight Israeli bombardment on the southern Gaza Strip at al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah [Mahmud Hams/AFP]

In Gaza, each day brings more death as strikes topple buildings with families inside. Six months of war have killed more than 33,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.

Israel’s siege, bombardment and ground offensive have created what the United Nations and aid officials call a man-made crisis of near starvation. Several hundred thousand Palestinians in northern Gaza face imminent famine, with little aid able to reach them, the UN says.

In Gaza’s southernmost city, a crowd of children and men thrust their pots and bowls out for meals being distributed by an aid group. An impromptu tent city has blanketed the edges of Rafah, filled with hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled Israel’s offensive in other parts of Gaza. The influx has swelled Rafah to some 1.4 million people, some five times the normal population.

In one photo, a girl looks on in shock as a man carries a child out of the rubble of a building in the southern city of Khan Younis, which has been the focus of Israel’s ground offensive for the past months. With entire blocks now in ruins, parts of Khan Younis are starting to resemble Gaza City in the north, where some estimates say about 70 percent of buildings have been destroyed or damaged.

At its six-month mark, it is not clear what direction the war will now take. Weeks of mediation by the United States, Egypt and Qatar for a longer ceasefire have so far been unable to make a breakthrough. But international pressure is ongoing for a halt in the war. Israel has also said it is determined to expand its offensive to Rafah, determined to uproot Hamas from what it says is its last stronghold. That has raised alarm over a possible dramatic increase in casualties and an escalation in the conflict.

This picture taken from a position in southern Israel, on the border with Gaza shows smoke billowing over the Palestinian territory during Israeli bombardment as an Israeli tank takes position [Menahem Kahana/AFP]

An Israeli tank rolls along a position as Palestinians flee Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. [Mahmud Hams/AFP]

Palestinians walk past destroyed houses, in the Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip. [Mahmoud Issa/Reuters]

Children walk with a dog, as displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, take shelter in a tent camp at the border with Egypt, in Rafah. [Saleh Salem/Reuters]

Palestinians queue as they wait to collect drinking water, amid shortages of drinking water, in Rafah. [Saleh Salem/Reuters]

An injured Palestinian man gestures after in an Israeli strike on Rafah. [Mahmud Hams/AFP]

Palestinians look for survivors of the Israeli bombardment in the Maghazi refugee camp. [Fatima Shbair/AP Photo]

Palestinians are treated as they lie on the floor after being wounded in an Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, in the hospital in Khan Younis. [Fatima Shbair/AP Photo]

Colleagues and family members mourn over the body of Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abudaqa, who was killed by Israeli forces, during his funeral in Khan Younis on December 16, 2023 [Mahmud Hams/AFP]

An aerial view of Palestinians performing Friday prayers among the rubble of the al-Faruq Mosque, destroyed in an Israeli attack. [Abed Zagout/Anadolu]

Palestinian children suffering from malnutrition receive treatment at a healthcare center, amid widespread hunger, in Rafah. [Mohammed Salem/Reuters]

Palestinians displaced by Israel's military offensive gather to have their iftar (breaking of the fast meal) during the holy month of Ramadan, in Rafah. [Shadi Tabatibi/Reuters]