Mass destruction, displacement, hunger and loss in Gaza are “tainting our shared humanity,” the United Nations says.
On the 100th day of the war in Gaza, Israel's relentless bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip continues with no signs of letting up, amid a growing humanitarian catastrophe and the looming threat of a regional spillover.
At least 23,968 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, have died since the war began on October 7, after Hamas fighters carried out an attack in southern Israel that killed 1,139 people there. Israel said some 240 people were also taken captive.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to “continue” [the war] until victory,” stating in a televised speech Saturday night that “it is possible and necessary.”
“No one will stop us: not The Hague, not the Axis of Evil, not anyone else,” Netanyahu said, referring to a case South Africa brought to the International Court of Justice seeking emergency measures to stop Israel's war, and in reference to Iran-aligned “resistance axis” groups in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
The war has been by far the bloodiest and most destructive episode in the decades-long conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
'Tanning our shared humanity'
In early January, Gaza's media office said Israel had dropped more than 65,000 tons of bombs on the territory. Analysis of satellite data cited by the Associated Press shows that about 33 percent of buildings across the Strip have been destroyed.
The United Nations estimates that 1.9 million people, nearly 85 percent of the population, have been internally displaced, while more than 90 percent face acute food insecurity.
“The massive destruction, displacement, hunger and loss of the last 100 days are staining our shared humanity,” the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said on Sunday.
“The humanitarian operation has become one of the most complex and challenging in the world,” he added in a post on social media platform X.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said that in 100 days, “the Israeli occupation has turned Gaza into an uninhabitable place and committed horrible crimes.” He added that “the international community was “again failing” to implement international resolutions related to the Palestinian cause.
Israel's goals
Israeli authorities have set two main objectives to claim victory: the destruction of Hamas and its ability to govern Gaza, and the return of all captives, around 136 of whom still remain in Gaza.
Last week, the Israeli military said it was scaling back its operation in northern Gaza after having dismantled Hamas' “military framework” there. He has also indicated that he was moving into a less intense phase of the war.
However, questions remain over how the military will carry out more targeted operations in the south after Israel forced more than a million people to evacuate there from the north.
Regarding the stated goal of returning all captives home, little progress has been made since a fragile truce in early December allowed the return of some 105 people. The issue is thorny inside Israel, where relatives of those detained in Gaza are pressuring the war cabinet to do more for their release.
Tens of thousands of people commemorated “100 days of hell” in Tel Aviv on Saturday night in a demonstration organized by the families of the captives. It came as the national union and academic institutions called a 100-minute solidarity strike on Sunday morning.
Risk of spills
As Israel bombs Gaza, it has also increased its raids and arrests in the occupied West Bank.
Tensions are also high with regional neighbors. The Lebanese group Hezbollah and the Israeli army have been involved in almost daily exchanges of fire along Israel's northern border with Lebanon. The killing of a senior Hamas leader in an alleged Israeli attack on Beirut also raised concerns about a broader conflict.
Meanwhile, from Yemen, Houthi rebels have begun attacking international ships linked to Israel in the Red Sea – one of the most important routes for global trade – vowing not to stop until the war ends.
In response to Houthi aggression, the United States and the United Kingdom have launched major attacks on Yemeni soil.
Meanwhile, as the war drags on, there is little clarity about Israel's vision for postwar Gaza.
The United States has repeatedly insisted that it wants the Palestinian Authority to reform and then govern the Strip. But the body that governs parts of the occupied West Bank enjoys little support among Palestinians.
