Gaza’s 2024: A year of war and misery

Palestinians in Gaza are entering the new year as defenceless and beleaguered as the last.

Israel’s war on the enclave continued into 2024, killing 23,842 people and wounding 51,925 during this year alone, driving the grisly official death toll to 46,376, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Israel has used siege and starve tactics, as well as scorched earth bombardment, drawing accusations that it is committing genocide, from rights groups and United Nations legal bodies.

All documented Israel’s systematic targeting of hospitals, displacement shelters, aid workers, journalists and so-called safe zones, which are often anything but.

In northern Gaza, the Israeli army has imposed a full and suffocating siege in an attempt to starve fighters and push out civilians, in what has been called “ethnic cleansing”.

These tactics violate international law and are creating the conditions to kill a people “in whole or in part”, matching the definition of genocide in the UN’s Genocide Convention, rights groups say.

“This last year has been very dark for us. How can I describe it in any other way? It’s been more than torturous,” said Eman Shaghnoubi, 52, from Deir el-Balah in Gaza.

“We have moved from one humiliation to another,” she added, remarking on the perpetual displacement of Palestinians in the enclave.

Israel has rendered 34 hospitals in Gaza “nonfunctional” and forced 80 health centres to shut down entirely, according to the Gaza Government Media Office.