Israel’s yearlong offensive in Gaza, launched in the wake of the Hamas-led October 7 attacks, has forced about 1.9 million Palestinians from their homes, decimated the strip’s health care system, damaged cultural sites, eviscerated academic institutions, and spawned a humanitarian crisis of hunger, displacement and disease.
Palestinians say they are barely surviving, let alone able to rebuild, under Israel’s bombardment and siege. Many of Israel’s strikes have hit civilian infrastructure. Israel has for years said Hamas fighters use mosques, hospitals and other civilian buildings to hide from Israeli attacks and launch their own. Hamas has repeatedly denied the claims.
CNN has spoken to people in Gaza’s five governorates – Northern Gaza, Gaza City, Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah – whose lives and livelihoods have been turned to rubble, including doctors, shop owners, aid workers and educators.
As the Israeli military intensifies its war on multiple fronts in the region, people in Gaza fear the world’s focus has shifted from their plight.
“Gaza is not just a warzone. It is home to millions of people trying to live their lives, despite unimaginable circumstances,” Samer Abuzerr, a public health scientist and father-of-four displaced in central Gaza.
See CNN’s data-led interactive reporting on the lives in Gaza reduced to rubble.
