As Israeli bombs rained down on Lebanon, the scenes of destruction and violence felt all too familiar to the residents of Gaza. On Thursday, Mai al-Afifa, 24, was conducting a workshop on identifying unexploded ordnance in a school sheltering displaced individuals in central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah when an Israeli missile struck the nearby building, resulting in the deaths of twenty-eight people and injuries to fifty-four, according to medics present.
Amidst the smoke and debris, Afifa noticed the dismembered bodies of two women and a male aid worker while trying to escape. The Israeli military claimed it had executed a targeted strike against Hamas fighters allegedly using the school as a command center.
“We feel profound sorrow for what is happening in Lebanon… We understand the pain and loss,” Afifa commented. “However, we fear that Gaza will be forgotten: the massacres have escalated here, yet no one is addressing it. The media is fixated on the regional conflict, Iran, Israel, and the situation in Lebanon.”
Israel initiated a ground invasion of Lebanon in early October following two weeks of intensive airstrikes and targeted killings aimed at dismantling Hezbollah’s leadership and military strength.
After Hamas launched an attack on October 7, Hezbollah, the powerful Iranian-backed militia, began shelling Israel in what it described as solidarity with the Palestinian group. The back-and-forth cross-border exchanges over the past year have forced hundreds of thousands from their homes on both sides of the contentious border.
Israel asserts that its “targeted and limited” operations in Lebanon aim to enable residents to safely return to previously evacuated regions. However, one-fifth of Lebanon’s population has already been displaced due to these evacuation directives, which now encompass a quarter of the small nation, sparking concerns that Israel is gearing up for a larger offensive against Hezbollah.
In a recent televised address, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the Lebanese people to “liberate your country from Hezbollah” to avoid “destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza.”
As the conflict in Lebanon unfolds and the specter of a broader regional war involving Iran and the US looms, Gaza has become less prominent in news coverage and diplomatic discussions. Nonetheless, Israel has intensified its long-standing assault on the besieged Palestinian territory. Approximately 400,000 individuals are trapped due to ongoing hostilities in the Jabaliya neighborhood of Gaza City, which has persisted for over a week. Israel maintains that the ground offensive is essential to thwart Hamas from reestablishing its operations.
Badr Alzaharna, 25, from Gaza City, expressed his family’s desire to flee after enduring a year of conflict, but said that the ongoing fighting and the presence of Israeli snipers made escape impossible. “Just stepping outside reveals apocalyptic scenes… It’s traumatizing to be here. Each day serves as a reminder of the world’s hypocrisy,” he lamented.
The entirety of northern Gaza is under Israeli evacuation orders; the Israeli army has advised civilians to relocate to al-Mawasi, a coastal area in southern Gaza for their safety, although it has conducted airstrikes on this so-called “humanitarian zone” multiple times. The World Health Organization reported last week that seven missions to evacuate patients from overcrowded hospitals and transfer them south had been hindered or blocked by Israeli forces.
A year after the October 7 assault by Hamas that triggered the war in Gaza, one in every fifty-five people has been casualties, while over 90% of the 2.3 million residents have been displaced, facing severe shortages of food, medicine, and clean water amid intensified Israeli restrictions on imports to the territory.
In September, records from the UN and Israeli government revealed that food and aid deliveries to Gaza had plummeted to their lowest levels in seven months due to new regulations enforced by Israel, prompting the UN World Food Programme to issue warnings about the impending threat of famine. Northern Gaza has seen no food supplies since October 1. On Saturday, the UN announced it had distributed its last reserves of high-energy biscuits, canned food, and flour, leaving uncertainty about future availability.
Rohan Talbot, director of advocacy and campaigns with the UK-based charity Medical Aid for Palestinians, stated: “We are running out of ways to articulate the horrors emerging from northern Gaza. Israel’s bombardment is unyielding; frightened and starving individuals are being shot as they attempt to escape, and numerous bodies line the streets. While Israel’s offensive on Palestinian survival escalates, the international community appears to have turned its back on Gaza. Efforts for a ceasefire are stagnating.”
Negotiations mediated internationally for a lasting ceasefire and hostage release have remained stalled since July, plunging Palestinians and the families of Israeli captives seized on October 7 into despair.
These discussions are now overshadowed by attempts to de-escalate the situation in Lebanon and avert a full-scale war between Israel and Iran, particularly after Tehran launched an attack on the Israeli state with 180 ballistic missiles in retaliation for the assassinations of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
Previously, a ceasefire in Gaza was perceived as crucial to alleviate rising regional tensions; Iran, Hezbollah, and other allied militias from Yemen, Iraq, and Syria all stated they would cease hostilities against Israel and US interests once the Gaza conflict concluded.
However, following Israel’s war declaration on Hezbollah, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, declared that Tehran and its affiliates would persist in combating Israel. The future of Gaza no longer appears directly connected to the other theaters of conflict.
Mohammed Said, 36, a father of four from Deir al-Balah, now taking shelter with his family after their home was damaged in an airstrike, expressed his resignation toward the shifted global focus. “Gaza has always been overlooked. That has led to all of this,” he remarked.
