Before the war between Israel and Hamas broke out, the small enclave run by the Palestinian militant group Hamas was poor, densely populated but full of life – restaurants, shops, makeshift soccer fields, universities and hospitals.
Six months after the conflict began, Reuters photographers rode bicycles along devastated streets to gauge the devastation caused by Israeli airstrikes in retaliation for Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which killed more than 33,000 people.
almost no signs of life
The same scene plays out on road after road – lined with piles of rubble – home to 2.3 million people who lack medicine, medical care and food in a growing humanitarian crisis.
Many are living in shelters or tent cities after moving from one part of the enclave to another in an attempt to escape the relentless bombing.
Movement is limited on the quiet streets. There were few signs of life. Men passed by on motorcycles. A young boy pushes a wheelbarrow down a dirt road, past buildings covered in dust. A mosque was not spared.
Another photo shows a man walking with a bag of flour on his shoulders. Food is scarce in Gaza, and Palestinians say trying to secure supplies is a life-or-death struggle, as was the case in February when more than 100 Palestinians died trying to get food from aid convoys. Israel said many people were trampled to death in the chaos, while Gaza’s health authorities said Israeli forces fired into the crowd.
famine is imminent
Israel launched the offensive in retaliation for Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel, which killed 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostages, according to Israeli statistics.
The United Nations has warned of looming famine and complained of obstacles in accessing and distributing aid across Gaza. The United States also said famine was imminent.
Israeli officials say they have increased aid access to Gaza and are not responsible for delays and that aid delivery within Gaza is the responsibility of the United Nations and humanitarian agencies. Israel also accuses Hamas of stealing aid, a charge Hamas denies.
Citizens from Australia, Britain and Poland were among seven celebrity chef José Andrés World Central Kitchen staff killed in an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza on Monday, the NGO said, underscoring the chaos in Gaza situation.
For now, Palestinians can only walk through rubble-strewn streets and watch the wasteland grow with each airstrike.
Photographers on bicycles saw little sign of life amid the ruins. Two women walking with a young child. Several people sit under colorful umbrellas. The men were pushing a cart with a donkey. Burnt out cars sat at the edge of the street.
