Palestinians on Tuesday marked two years since Israel’s devastating war on Gaza began, a conflict that has left an indelible scar on the enclave and its people.
The grim anniversary comes as Israeli bombardment continues across the Strip, compounding what the United Nations has repeatedly described as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Since October 7, 2023 — when Hamas launched its attack on Israel, triggering a full-scale war — Gaza has endured relentless air strikes, ground assaults, and a suffocating blockade.
People look at smoke rising from explosions in Gaza, as seen from southern Israel, October 7, 2025. — Reuters
According to Gaza’s health ministry, more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed, most of them women and children, while tens of thousands more remain missing beneath the rubble of flattened neighbourhoods.
The two-year onslaught has also rendered the majority of Gaza’s 2.2 million residents homeless, forcing families into overcrowded makeshift shelters and tent camps amid severe shortages of food, water, and medicine.
A famine officially declared on August 22 this year has deepened Gaza’s suffering.
Hidaya, a 31-year-old Palestinian mother, cradles her sick 18-month-old son Mohammed al-Mutawaq, who is also displaying signs of malnutrition, inside their tent at the Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, on July 24, 2025. — AFP
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) — a global measure of hunger — reported that over half a million Palestinians are on the brink of starvation, with many surviving on animal feed and contaminated water. Aid convoys, when allowed to enter, barely meet a fraction of the needs.
Despite the staggering toll, Israeli strikes have not ceased, with explosions continuing to rock parts of Gaza even as mediators from Egypt, Qatar, and the United States push for a ceasefire.
The anniversary also follows the recent civilian initiative known as the Global Sumud Flotilla, an international effort to break the Israeli siege on Gaza.
All participating boats were intercepted by the Israeli navy, and activists aboard were arrested, sparking widespread protests across Europe and other countries condemning Israel’s actions.
Participants of the Global Sumud Flotilla, who were seeking to deliver aid to Gaza and were detained by Israel, gesture upon their arrival to the Athens Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport, in Athens, Greece, October 6, 2025. — Reuters Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who was part of the Global Sumud Flotilla seeking to deliver aid to Gaza and was detained by Israel, reacts upon her arrival to the Athens Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport, in Athens, Greece, October 6, 2025. — Reuters
Delegations from Israel and Hamas are currently holding indirect talks in Egypt, following a US-backed proposal to end the war and facilitate a prisoner exchange.
Here are the highlights of the devastation brought by the Israeli offensive to Gaza:
A girl sits outside one of the tents sheltering people displaced by war at the Qatari-built and now-damaged Hamad City residential complex in northwestern Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on October 6, 2025. — AFP Palestinians gather to receive food from a charity kitchen, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, October 7, 2025. — ReutersDisplaced Palestinian children, who fled their homes due to the Israeli military offensive, wait to collect water, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, October 7, 2025. — Reuters Displaced Palestinian children search of items that could be used as fuel for cooking amid a pile of garbage next to destroyed buildings at the Bureij camp for refugees in the central Gaza Strip on October 6, 2025. — AFP
Satellite images show destruction in Gaza
A satellite image shows Beit Hanoun during the war, September 21, 2025. — Reuters A satellite image shows Deir El Balah during the war, September 28, 2025. — Reuters Satellite image shows Jabaliya during the war, September 27, 2025. — Reuters
Satellite image shows Rafah during the war, September 30, 2025. — Reuters
Lives shattered, hopes endure
Displaced Palestinians take shelter in tents, after fleeing their homes due to the Israeli military offensive, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, October 7, 2025. — Reuters A displaced Palestinian man, who fled his home due to the Israeli military offensive, sleeps in front of his tent, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, October 7, 2025. — Reuters Palestinian woman Inas Abu Maamar, who was photographed at Nasser hospital morgue on October 17, 2023, cradling the body of her five-year-old niece Saly, helps feed her nephew Ahmed, Saly’s brother, at their tent where they shelter after being displaced from their home, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 30, 2025. Ahmed lost his two sisters, Saly and Seba, his parents, maternal grandparents and paternal grandfather in Israeli attacks during the war. — ReutersA displaced Palestinian woman, who fled her home due to the Israeli military offensive, sits in front of her tent, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, October 7, 2025. — Reuters
