On the 100th day of the war on Gaza, Israel’s relentless bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip continues with no sign of abating, amid a growing humanitarian catastrophe and the looming threat of regional spillover.
At least 23,968 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, have been killed since the war began on October 7, after Hamas fighters carried out an attack on southern Israel that killed 1,139 people. Israel said around 240 people were also captured.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to “continue (the war) until victory”, saying in a televised speech on Saturday evening that “it is possible and necessary”.
“No one will stop us – not The Hague, not the Axis of Evil and no one else,” Netanyahu said, referring to a case that South Africa brought to the International Court of Justice seeking action. urgency to end Israel’s war, and in reference to Iran-aligned “axis of resistance” groups in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
The war was by far the bloodiest and most destructive episode of combat in the decades-long conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
“Stain our common humanity”
In early January, the Gaza 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 in the entire strip were destroyed.
The United Nations estimates that 1.9 million people, or nearly 85 percent of the population, have been internally displaced, while more than 90 percent face acute food insecurity.
“The mass destruction, displacement, hunger and loss of the last 100 days taint our common 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 difficult in the world,” he added in a message published on the social media platform X.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said that in 100 days, “the Israeli occupation transformed Gaza into an uninhabitable place and committed horrific crimes.” He adds that “the international community “fails once again” to implement international resolutions linked to the Palestinian cause.
Israel’s goals
Israeli authorities have set two main goals in claiming victory: the destruction of Hamas and its ability to rule Gaza, and the return of all captives, of whom approximately 136 remain in Gaza.
Last week, the Israeli army announced that it was reducing its operations in northern Gaza after dismantling Hamas’s “military cadre” there. He also indicated that he was moving to a lower-intensity phase of war.
Still, questions remain about how the army will carry out more targeted operations in the south after Israel forced more than a million people to evacuate the north.
Concerning the stated objective of returning all captives home, little progress has been made since a fragile truce in early December allowed the return of around 105 people. The issue is thorny in Israel, where relatives of those detained in Gaza are pressuring the war cabinet to do more for their release.
Tens of thousands of people in Tel Aviv marked “100 days of hell” with rallies in Hostages Square on Saturday and Sunday. Families and supporters of the captives gathered to demand the hostages’ release.
“The families are absolutely desperate,” Tel Aviv Tribune’s Sara Khairat said from Tel Aviv. “They went from uniting here at rallies every Saturday, where tens of thousands of people showed up. Today, the kind of rhetoric they use is “enough is enough.”
On Sunday, a spokesman for Hamas’ military wing said the fate of many Israeli hostages had become unknown. In a televised speech, Abu Ubaida said many of the hostages “could have been killed,” blaming Israel for their fate.
Risk of overflows
As Israel bombs Gaza, it has also stepped up 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 engaged in near-daily exchanges of fire along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. The killing of a senior Hamas leader in an alleged Israeli strike on Beirut has also raised concerns about a broader conflict.
Meanwhile, from Yemen, Houthi rebels began targeting Israel-linked international shipping on the Red Sea – one of the most important global trade routes – vowing not to stop until the end of the war.
In response to Houthi aggression, the United States and the United Kingdom launched major strikes on Yemeni soil.
Meanwhile, as the war drags on, Israel’s vision for post-war Gaza remains unclear.
The United States has repeatedly insisted that it wants the Palestinian Authority to reform and then govern the Gaza Strip. But the body that runs parts of the occupied West Bank enjoys little support among Palestinians.