Key Points
- Hundreds of thousands of displaced Gazans are at risk of hunger and disease.
- Families and friends of remaining Israeli captives in Gaza are pressuring the Israeli government to bring them home.
- Hope of a political resolution to the conflict appears further away than ever.
As they turn from a year that could barely have brought more bitter hardship after 12 weeks of a pulverising Israeli assault, people in Gaza have little hope that 2024 will bring much relief.
In Rafah on Gaza’s border with Egypt, which has become the biggest focal point for Palestinians fleeing other parts of the enclave, people on Sunday were more preoccupied with trying to find shelter, food and water than by the new year.
“In 2024 I wish to go back to the wreckage of my home, pitch a tent and live there,” said Abu Abdullah al-Agha, a middle-aged Palestinian man whose house in Khan Younis was destroyed and who lost a young niece and nephew in an Israeli airstrike.
The sun sets over Egypt across the border from the tent camps of displaced Palestinians in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Credit: AFP
“I wish for our children to live in peace and security, to go back to school, back to university, for workers to go back to work and find a source of income,” he added.
Israel launched its war in Gaza , and taking about 240 hostages.
The war between Hamas and Israel is the latest escalation in a long-standing conflict.
The Israeli bombardment has pushed nearly all Gazans from their homes, killed 21,800 people according to health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave, and left survivors facing hunger, disease and destitution.
Any hope of a political settlement to the conflict and Palestinians’ 75-year quest for self-determination appear further away than ever, Gazans told Reuters.
“Since October we’ve been struggling in tents in the streets, after our homes were demolished,” said Suzan Khader, weeping, adding that she wished the new year would bring an end to the war.
“Our whole lives are now on the streets, we eat in the streets, we live on the streets, we die on the streets, and even our children are on the streets and we’re all displaced. So many struggles in 2023,” she added.
In Rafah, people have crowded around makeshift tents that have sprung up on streets and pavements, in empty lots and fields. UN-run schools designated as shelters early in the conflict were rapidly filled with people whose homes were destroyed.
In their tents made with crude plastic sheeting, where people have only the minimum of belongings such as blankets and cooking utensils, people look back with fondness and sadness on their abandoned homes and lives.
“I hope in 2024 that everything is fixed and for life to go back to normal,” said Muna al-Sawaf, 12, from Gaza City, playing with a kitten in the rubble. “I want life to go back to normal, get dressed, run errands again, our homes to be rebuilt.”
Israeli hostage families ‘hold onto shred of hope’
At least 129 hostages are still believed to be held in Gaza after more than 100 were released in a prisoner swap during a week-long truce in late November.
Families and friends of the remaining captives have rallied to keep up pressure on the government to bring them home.
“I hope there’s going to be another deal, even a partial deal, or that some will be released,” said one demonstrator, Nir Shafran, 45.
“I’m trying to hold on to every shred of hope.”
Women embrace as they join people holding pictures of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza during a protest outside the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv. Source: EPA / Abir Sultan
International mediators have continued efforts toward a new pause in fighting.
A Hamas delegation from Qatar visited Cairo on Friday to discuss an Egyptian three-phase plan proposing renewable ceasefires, a staggered release of hostages for Palestinian prisoners, and ultimately an end to the war, sources close to Hamas said.
Their allies Islamic Jihad said on Saturday that Palestinian factions were “in the process” of evaluating the proposal and would give a response “within days”.
United States news outlet Axios and Israeli website Ynet, both citing unnamed Israeli officials, reported that Qatari mediators had told Israel that Hamas was prepared to resume talks on new hostage releases in exchange for a ceasefire.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, asked about the process on Saturday, said Hamas had been “giving all kinds of ultimatums that we didn’t accept”.
“We are seeing a certain shift (but) I don’t want to create an expectation,” he said without elaborating.
US strikes in the Red Sea
The US military said on Sunday that US Navy helicopters sank three Houthi vessels and killed their crews after they had attacked a Danish-owned container ship.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said on X that 10 members of the group’s naval forces were “killed or missing” in the US strike.
have been targeting vessels in the Red Sea since November in what they say is a show of support for Palestinians in Gaza. Their actions have prompted major shipping companies to take the longer and costlier route around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope rather than through the Suez Canal.
The Red Sea is the entry point for ships using the Suez Canal, which handles about 12 per cent of global trade and is vital for the movement of goods between Asia and Europe.
The US launched Operation Prosperity Guardian on December 19, saying more than 20 countries in Red Sea waters near Yemen.
