In 2024, conflict escalated in the Middle East.
In retaliation to Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attacks, Israel’s devastating ongoing military onslaught has killed more than 44,800 Palestinians and injured nearly 106,356 — with the death toll feared to be much higher due to thousands still missing under the rubble.
Much of Gaza has been laid to waste in the conflict, with some two-thirds of its buildings damaged or destroyed. Most of the strip’s 2.3 million people have been made homeless, sheltering in places like the Jabalia refugee camp. Those camps themselves came under fire as Israel said it was going after fighters using the places as shields, an accusation Hamas denies.
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Many of Gaza’s inhabitants, including its children, faced supply shortages and hunger. Israel is facing accusations of committing genocide in Gaza by international NGOs as the International Court of Justice runs proceedings to determine Israel’s culpability.
Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have also issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defence chief and a Hamas leader for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
As the death toll rose in Gaza, violence also surged in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, while at the Israel-Lebanon border Hezbollah exchanged fire with Israeli troops.
In October, Israel invaded Lebanon and ratcheted up its attacks on Hezbollah with intensified strikes on southern Lebanon and in parts of the capital Beirut. Lebanon’s government said more than 2,600 people were killed and villages near the border emptied during Israel’s invasion of Lebanon.
A string of assassinations of militant leaders hurt Hezbollah and Hamas and were celebrated as triumphs by Israel, although domestically the government also faced protests for its failure to secure the return of all the hostages. On a “Day of Disruption” in May, demonstrators held up Israeli flags and photos of those still being held hostage in Gaza.
After Israel bombed the Iranian embassy in Syria, Iran engaged in tit-for-tat strikes with Israel, raising fears of a wider war that could draw in the Israel-allied United States.
In late November, a ceasefire was agreed between Israel and Hezbollah — a rare ray of hope although sporadic Israeli attacks in Lebanon continue.
Taking advantage of a weakened Hezbollah, which like Iran was on the back foot after the conflict with Israel, Syrian rebels launched a wide offensive against the army of President Bashar al-Assad. In little more than a week in December, the five-decade rule of the Assad family came to an end as the rebels swept through the country.
Israeli forces have also started an incursion into Syria while conducting more than 350 airstrikes in the country since the fall of Assad.
What 2025 will bring for Syrians, Lebanese, Palestinians, Israelis and others who live in the war-torn region remains to be seen.
Twins Wesam and Naeem Abu Anza will never get to find out or to know peace. Born in late 2023 in Gaza after hostilities broke out, the infant boy and girl were buried in March of this year after being killed in an Israel airstrike in Rafah, according to Gaza authorities.
“My heart is gone,” wept their mother Abu Anza, whose husband was also killed.
Header image: Smoke rises from Gaza, amid Israel’s offensive against Hamas, as seen from Israel’s border with Gaza, in southern Israel, on March 17, 2024. — Reuters