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Gallery|Israel-Palestine conflict

The Gaza time bomb

A year after it started, Israel’s war on Gaza has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and turned much of the occupied territory to dust, with no end in sight.

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The Gaza time bomb
By Danylo Hawaleshka
Published On 8 Oct 2024

History Illustrated is a series of perspectives that puts news events and current affairs into historical context using graphics generated with artificial intelligence.

The Gaza time bomb
When Hamas and other groups attacked Israel a year ago, everyone knew Israel would respond militarily.
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The Gaza time bomb
What wasn’t apparent was how long Israel would be willing to rain down its destructive punishment on the people of Gaza in its declared quest to extinguish Hamas.
The Gaza time bomb
In only the first 200 days of the war, Israel dropped more explosives on Gaza than were dropped on Dresden, Hamburg and London combined during World War II.
The Gaza time bomb
And, of course, the bombing hasn’t stopped, obliterating infrastructure, making water, for example, beyond scarce. In July, Oxfam said Israel had reduced water availability by 94 percent.
The Gaza time bomb
Education has also been a casualty. According to the UN aid agency, 85 percent of schools in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed.
The Gaza time bomb
Israeli military attacks on healthcare facilities have been no less devastating, and according to the UN, 19 out of 36 hospitals are completely out of service.
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The Gaza time bomb
To tell people’s stories, the outside world has relied on journalists inside Gaza. But they, too, have not been spared, with at least 175 journalists and media workers killed — almost all of them Palestinians.
The Gaza time bomb
On average, one person is killed in Gaza every four minutes — more than 42,000 so far ... and counting. At least 22,500 people have suffered “life-changing” injuries, like an amputation, spinal cord trauma or brain injury.
The Gaza time bomb
To date, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to negotiate a ceasefire. Instead, the conflict has spread to Lebanon, with forays into Yemen and Iran, suggesting that Israel is nowhere near finished in what has become a Palestinian genocide in Gaza.