Every single individual in Gaza has had something stolen from them– It alone highlights the despair, cruelty, and injustices inflicted by Israel on Gaza over the past year.

Since October 7, 2023, more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed, with 70% of them being children. According to UNICEF, Palestine is now one of the most dangerous places for children on earth. 

Even more devastating, over 90,000+ people have been injured, and 10,000+ remain missing. The extent of oppression by Israel in one year is they have destroyed almost everything in Gaza.

According to the United Nations and  World Health Organization, Israel has damaged or destroyed more than 50% of Gaza’s homes—80% of commercials, 87% of school buildings, 68% of road networks and cropland.

For the people of Gaza, there is nothing left. What makes the situation even more dire is the state of their healthcare system. Of the 37 multispecialty hospitals, only 16 are partially functioning, and with no fuel entering since last year, the lack of resources has left injured civilians with limited care options.

Every Minute is Like Hell In Gaza

The situation has become so dire that the people don’t know what the next moment will bring. It is not just a crisis of a few months; the people of Gaza have been living in constant fear for over a year.

According to reports, every hour in the Gaza Strip, 15 people are losing their lives, 6 of whom are children. Thirty-five others are injured, and over 42 bombs are being dropped from above. There is no place left in Gaza where people can seek refuge because every hour, 12 buildings are being reduced to rubble by bombs.

The situation has grown so desperate that parents have resorted to writing their children’s names, along with the father’s name, on their tiny hands. That way, if their children die in the bombings, at least they can be identified.

People are living through a relentless nightmare, unsure of what will happen next. They have lost not just their homes but, for many, their fathers and children too.

The people of Gaza are enduring unimaginable suffering every minute of every day. The air they breathe, the ground they stand on—everything around them is a reminder of loss, fear, and devastation. Every second that passes is filled with the dread of not knowing if it might be their last.

The Further Escalation

The situation in Gaza worsens with each passing day. The citizens are lost, uncertain of where to go or where to find safety. The fear that the Israeli army has instilled over the past year has left people with no hope or sense of security in their own lives.

Reports say that 87% of children in Gaza are mentally depressed and in urgent need of psychological treatment. People don’t even have food to eat. When humanitarian aid is sent, desperate civilians rush to it, and in the chaos, only the strongest manage to grab whatever is available, while others are left with nothing.

The shelters provided by the UN and other organizations have also been bombed by Israeli forces, leaving people wondering where they can even live. Many have been forced to camp near the seashore, but even there, they face new dangers. During the night, when the tides rise, water floods their tents, and tragically, young children are often swept away by the strong currents.

In the past year, there hasn’t been a single day without attacks by the Israeli army. No place in Gaza has been spared. People are bombed in their sleep—many who go to bed at night never wake up. Hospitals have been targeted, bombing the very buildings where civilians were receiving medical care. The cruelty reaches its peak when even schools where innocent children should feel safe have been attacked.

The escalation has reached unbearable levels. First, the Gaza Strip was engulfed in violence, then the attacks extended to the occupied West Bank, followed by 

Lebanon, and now even Iran, is under threat. The Israeli forces seem relentless, showing no intention of stopping. For the past year, they have been fixated on taking the lives of innocent people, with no end in sight.

What is Next For the People Of Gaza?

At this point, hope is all that the civilians of Gaza have left. With Egypt and Israel having closed their borders, people in Gaza are unable to cross to safety. The UN and WHO, along with other major organizations, have repeatedly called for a ceasefire, and while there were one or two brief pauses in the conflict, it quickly resumed for one reason or another.

Throughout the past year, people across Europe and other countries have protested against Benjamin Netanyahu’s actions. However, the leaders of major nations have turned a deaf ear. Instead, countries like the U.S. and those in Europe have supplied Israel with weapons, further fueling the destruction of Gaza.

The coming year may hold even worse challenges for the people of Gaza. Iran has already launched attacks on Israel, and Israel will surely retaliate. Netanyahu has made it clear—either Israel survives or the nations of the Middle East, including Gaza, will face further devastation.

For this war to end, the President of the U.S., the Prime Minister of the UK, and the President of Russia will need to intervene directly. If they are serious about stopping the war, the first step must be to stop supplying weapons. Only then will the conflict begin to de-escalate. Otherwise, no matter how much the UN and other organizations try to bring peace, this war could drag on for another year, ten years, or even indefinitely.

“It’s a suffering I wouldn’t wish upon any woman” — Nada Abdelasalem, a Gaza war survivor. 

It’s been over 11 months since Israel invaded Gaza, and the situation continues to go from bad to worse.

The war has not only impacted lives but has deeply shaken humanity, especially when women and children are specifically targeted.

UN Women estimates that 70% of the total casualties in the Gaza war are women and children, with 10,000 women among the dead, including 6,000 mothers who have left behind 19,000 orphaned children. 

Unfortunately, for the women who are surviving, their existence feels no different from being trapped in a living coffin. They might wish they had been killed in the invasion instead.

Since the Onset of Israel – Gaza War…

The women in the war-affected region are helpless. They are crushed under mountains of sorrow. 

First, there is the unbearable pain of losing their children. Then, for some, it’s the grief of losing a brother; for others, their parents, and for many, their husbands. 

On top of all this, they have no roof over their heads, and they are forced to live in refugee camps without access to clean water, food, or basic hygiene. 

The weight of these tragedies is overwhelming, leaving them with little hope and unimaginable suffering.

The lack of necessities for survival has impacted their overall well-being and dignity. 

“We lived in a cozy three-bedroom apartment with a kitchen, built by my husband after years of hard work in construction. But when the war erupted, we lost everything, including my five-month pregnancy. 

We are forced to live in a single tent, with toilets that aren’t even enclosed by four walls. I can’t shower regularly to maintain proper hygiene. I feel like my privacy is constantly being violated.” — Reham conflict survivor. 

The situation for women in Gaza is so dire that they don’t even have extra clothes to change into. Many were forced to flee their homes wearing only the clothes on their backs.

“I wear a prayer robe for everything – to sleep in, to go out,” — Nada, a war-torn victim. 

The situation is even worse, as nearly 1 million women and children now have almost no food, clean water, restrooms, and sanitary pads. It has created a poor environment, as diseases spread rapidly in these unbearable living conditions.

The Doors of Aid Are Almost Closed

What could be worse than all of this? Sadly, for the women of Gaza, their suffering goes even deeper as they endure conditions even more horrific than what has already been described.

According to the World Health Organization and UN agencies, there have been 117 attacks on Gaza’s health infrastructure since the war began. 

These attacks have led to the closure of 64% of primary healthcare centers, and half of the hospitals are now non-operational.

The most heartbreaking aspect of this situation is that every day, 150 women in Gaza give birth to a child. With fuel, medicine, water, and health supplies rapidly diminishing, women are forced to give birth without anesthesia. 

“The war turned our lives upside down,” Etemad Assaf says, rubbing the clothes with her hand.

“Every night, I feel like I’m going to give birth now because I’m so tired.”

“You see? Is this a suitable life for a pregnant woman? A tent, cold, open air, and the lack of the necessities of life?”

Additionally, it is estimated that 15% of these pregnant women experience birth complications, requiring basic or comprehensive obstetric care. Sadly, several women have reported dying during or before giving birth to a child. 

Furthermore, according to a survey, around 50,000 women are currently pregnant, and more than 690,000 menstruating women and girls have limited access to menstrual hygiene products.

Help for diseases is a distant thought; right now, the condition of women in Gaza is so dire that they don’t even have access to basic medical facilities.

Being Women in Gaza 

For women in Gaza, it feels like they are forced to endure the constant fear of death every day—whether from bombings, the lack of healthcare resources, or the unbearable grief of losing their loved ones.

Survival is becoming increasingly difficult with each passing day, especially for women who are pregnant or have recently given birth. 

Many areas are grappling with severe hunger and food shortages, which makes it even more challenging for women to care for their children and newborns. Many have lost their breadwinners and are now relying solely on humanitarian aid to survive.

Finding milk for their children has become nearly impossible, and providing basic nutrition is a constant struggle. 

As the situation worsens, these women are forced to make heartbreaking choices, trying to sustain their families with whatever little they can find. 

The lack of food, medical care, and safety is pushing them to the brink, with no end in sight to their suffering.

Their only hope for improvement lies in the end of the war and the continuous flow of humanitarian aid and essential resources. Without peace and consistent support, their struggle for survival will only grow more desperate.

Despite the lack of sustainability and safe access, the UN has dispatched life-saving and humanitarian aid to Gaza. 

Unfortunately, this aid is insufficient, and more support is urgently needed for the women of Gaza, particularly for pregnant women and newborn babies.

It is crucial to note that no fuel has entered Gaza since October 7, leaving food, electricity, and other necessities out of reach for its residents. 

The only thing sustaining them is hope—the hope that the conflict will end soon and that essential supplies like medicines, healthcare resources, and food will once again become accessible.

Sudan Crisis – The northeastern African nation is on the brink of collapsing as high fighting continues between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). 

The ongoing collision has affected more than 1 billion people, killed hundreds, and turned Khartoum’s capital into a war zone. The civilians are migrating to the neighboring countries of Chad, Libya, Ethiopia, and Egypt to shelter and protect their lives. 

Under solidarity, the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces agreed to allow civilians to leave the war zone. Moreover, they also agreed to allow humanitarian aid to enter and process the relief operations for the injured.  

But what led Sudan to the catastrophic war today? Here’s an explainer:

What made Sudan’s Capitol a War Zone? 

Sudanese people have struggled to establish a democracy after decades under the one-person rule.

Omar al Bashir came into power in the late 1980s after a brutal military coup. He became the country’s president, ruled for 30 years before the populace erupted, and sought his resignation.

Omar al Bashir resigned after the former military coup, and the Sudanese Army took over Sudan. But people didn’t want them to rule or be in charge of Sudan either. So after immense pressure from the protestors, activists, and demonstrators, the Army agreed to share powers. 

The Army led by Abdel Fattah AL-Burhan agreed to share powers with different political groups in the transitional government. It was intended to oversee the shift to a democratic system. However, the people of Sudan’s’ fortune have some time else in their destiny. After two years, the Army removed the new prime minister and seized power again. 

With the Army in power, the people of Sudan seemed trapped and in limbo. With no clear path or trajectory to rule the country, the armed force and political group representatives have been in ongoing talks to make the transition happen again. However, the transition process held up due to underlying revelry between the Army and the Rapid Support Force that became the Second Army. 

Also Read: Threat To Famine In South Sudan

The Friends that Become Enemies 

The effective leader of the country AL-Burhan, and the leader of RSF, General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, aka Hemedti, were friends initially. For years both were on the same stage and joined hands after the war in Darfur (2003 civil war). Hemedti led a militia at the time known as Janjaweed; they were used by Al-bushir’s (the former president of Sudan) Army. 

The Janjaweed help the Al-bushier army fight rebels in the Darfur region and protect the upper echelon of the Army and senior commanders. However, they were accused of war crimes in Darfur, and AL-Bashir was charged with committing genocide in 2013. Hence, in 2013 Hemedti led the militia to rebrand themselves as the Rapid Support Forces and worked with the Army on different missions.  

Moreover, al-Burhan and Hemedti joined hands and planned to overthrow Omar al-Bashir, the country’s longtime leader, in 2019. 

Besides, they planned a revolution in October 2021, upending the tenuous transition to civilian administration that had been initiated.

Gen Dagalo has said, in a series of tweets, that Gen Burhan’s government were “radical Islamists” and that he and the RSF were “fighting for the people of Sudan to ensure the democratic progress for which they have so long yearned.”

The international community must take action now and intervene against the crimes of Sudanese General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, a radical Islamist who is bombing civilians from the air. His army is waging a brutal campaign against innocent people, bombing them with MiGs. 1/4

— Mohamed Hamdan Daglo (@GeneralDagllo) April 17, 2023

Though the friendship does not last for long, and Gen Dagalo, aka Hemedti, force becomes more powerful. During the pro-democracy protest against Al-Bashir, the RSF force and Army were accused of killing hundreds of people. 

In the tweets, Hemedti stated: “The international community must take action now and intervene against the crimes of Sudanese General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, a radical Islamist who is bombing civilians from the air. His Army is waging a brutal campaign against innocent people, bombing them with MiGs.”

Also Read: The Egyptian Army in Sudan… What are the Reasons?

The War of Power in the Sudan Crisis

Since the killing during the pro-democracy protest, the Hemedti force has acted more independently and grown powerfully. Hemedti forces were able to establish vast investments in the resources within the country and outside, too, especially in gold trading. 

So that brings us to the current Sudan crisis with the realization of the rapid growth of Hemedti force supremacies over Sudan. And expressive political ambition of Hemedti, Gen Al-Burhan led the Army and proposed integrating the Hemedti force into Sudan’s Army. 

However, both heads were unable to agree on the timeline. The Army initially proposed two years of integration, while RSF wanted ten years. 

It is unclear who started the fight, but on April 15, both sides began swapping accusations that they had attacked each other’s bases in Khartoum. 

Slowly, they control the presidential palace, the airport, and the state TV channel. The RSF has no aircraft but a heavy army force with 10,000 men and anti-aircraft weapons. The Army has air power. They have been hitting the RSF residential areas bases in the capitol. 

Both forces are fighting brutally and keep damaging the country’s resources alongside the life of millions of people. There have been plenty of calls to stop the war and take the talk to the table from Sudan’s neighbors. Additionally, despite the efforts of the African Union, the UN, the US, the UK, and the EU, there is no sign of backing up from either side. 

The South Sudanese foreign minister was forced to mediate the war and reach a ceasefire agreement, but violations continued unabated. The two sides say they agreed to hold the talk, but they have repeatedly heard from the Army that conditions are set for these talks. 

However, mass migration is escalating in Sudan with the acceleration in the humanitarian situation. The situation is already out of control; it’s now for big cats to intervene. The UN should take strict action and protect the rights of the people of Sudan. 

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