JERUSALEM (AP) — Sunday marks the 100th anniversary of the war between Israel and Hamas.
The war is already the longest and deadliest between Israel and the Palestinians since Israel's founding in 1948, and there is no sign of the fighting ending.
Israel declared war in response to Hamas's unprecedented cross-border attack on October 7, in which the Islamist militant group killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 250 others hostage. It was the deadliest attack in Israel's history and the deadliest for Jews since the Holocaust.
Israel responded with weeks of intense airstrikes on Gaza before escalating the operation into a ground offensive. They say their goal is to dismantle Hamas and secure the release of the more than 100 hostages still being held by the group.
The offensive has caused unprecedented destruction in Gaza. But more than three months later, Hamas is largely intact and hostages remain captive. The Israeli military says the war will last until 2024.
Here are five takeaways from the first 100 days of a conflict that has upended the region.
ISRAEL WILL NEVER BE THE SAME
The Oct. 7 attack caught Israel by surprise and shook the nation's trust in its leaders.
FILE – A photo of 21-year-old Keshet Casarotti, who was killed in a rampage by Hamas militants at the Nova Music Festival in southern Israel on Oct. 7, is shown at a vigil on the beach Saturday, Nov. 21, in honor of the Victims shown in Tel Aviv, Israel, 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty, File)
While the public has rallied behind the military's war effort, it remains deeply traumatized. The country seems to be reliving October 7th every day – when families were killed in their homes, partygoers shot at a music festival and children and elderly people kidnapped on motorcycles.
Posters of the hostages remaining in Hamas captivity line public streets, and people wear T-shirts calling on the leaders: “Bring them home.”
Israeli news channels devote their broadcasts around the clock to covering the war. They broadcast non-stop stories of tragedy and heroism from October 7, stories of hostages and their families, tearful funerals of soldiers killed in action and reports from Gaza from correspondents smiling alongside the troops.
There is little discussion or compassion about the skyrocketing death toll and deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza. Plans for post-war Gaza are rarely mentioned.
One thing has remained constant. While Israeli security officials have apologized and signaled they will step down after the war, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains resolute.
FILE – Mourners hug each other during the funeral of Meni and Ayelet Godard at Kibbutz Palmachim, Israel, Sunday, Oct. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)
Despite a sharp decline in his public approval ratings, Netanyahu has resisted calls to apologize, resign or investigate his government's failings. Netanyahu, who has led the country for most of the past 15 years, says there will be a time for investigation after the war.
Historian Tom Segev said the war would continue to shake the country for many years and perhaps even generations. He said the Oct. 7 failures and the inability to bring the hostages home had fueled a widespread sense of betrayal and lack of trust in the government.
“Israelis want their wars to go well. This war is not going well,” he said. “A lot of people feel like there’s something very, very profoundly wrong here.”
GAZA WILL NEVER BE THE SAME
Conditions in Gaza were already difficult before October 7, after Israel and Egypt imposed a crushing blockade after Hamas seized power in 2007. Today the area is no longer recognizable.
FILE Palestinians inspect a house after it was hit by an Israeli bombardment on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair, File)
Experts say the Israeli bombing campaign is among the worst in modern history. Health authorities in the Gaza Strip say the death toll has already surpassed 23,000 people, about 1% of the Palestinian territory's population. Thousands more are missing or seriously injured. Over 80% of the population has been displaced and tens of thousands of people are now crammed into sprawling tent camps in small swaths of land in southern Gaza, also under Israeli fire.
Jamon Van Den Hoek, a mapping expert at Oregon State University, and his colleague Corey Scher at the City University of New York Graduate Center estimate, based on satellite analysis, that about half of Gaza's buildings were likely damaged or destroyed.
“The extent of likely damage or destruction across Gaza is remarkable,” Van Den Hoek wrote on LinkedIn.
The human cost is equally staggering. The United Nations estimates that about a quarter of Gaza's population is starving. According to the United Nations, only 15 of Gaza's 36 hospitals are partially operational, leaving the medical system on the verge of collapse. Children have missed school for months and have no prospect of returning to study.
FILE – Palestinians line up for a free meal in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali, File)
“Gaza has simply become uninhabitable,” wrote Martin Griffiths, the U.N. humanitarian chief.
IT'S ALL CONNECTED
The war has spread across the Middle East and threatens to escalate into a larger conflict pitting a U.S.-led alliance against Iranian-backed militant groups.
Almost immediately after the Hamas attack, Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon began attacks on Israel, leading to Israeli retaliatory attacks.
The back-and-forth fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has not escalated into a full-scale war. But it has come dangerously close, most recently after a Jan. 2 airstrike attributed to Israel that killed a senior Hamas official in Beirut. Hezbollah responded with heavy bombings of Israeli military bases, while Israel assassinated several Hezbollah commanders through targeted airstrikes.
FILE – Israeli police officers evacuate a woman and a child from a site hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov, File)
At the same time, Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen carried out a series of attacks on civilian cargo ships in the Red Sea. Meanwhile, Iran-backed militias have attacked U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria.
To curb the violence, the US has sent warships to the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.
Late Thursday, U.S. and British militaries bombed more than a dozen Houthi targets in Yemen. The Houthis promised retaliation, raising the prospect of an even larger conflict.
ISRAEL CANNOT IGNORE THE PALESTINIANS
Throughout his term in office, Netanyahu has repeatedly tried to ignore the Palestinian issue.
He has rejected various peace initiatives, dismissed the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority as weak or irrelevant and promoted policies that have divided Palestinians between rival governments in Gaza and the West Bank.
Instead, he has sought to normalize relations with other Arab countries in the hope of isolating Palestinians and pressuring them to accept an agreement that does not live up to their dreams of independence. Shortly before October 7, Netanyahu boasted about his efforts to build relations with Saudi Arabia.
The Hamas attack and the rise in violence in the West Bank have brought the Israeli-Palestinian conflict back into focus. The war is now at the top of news stories around the world, has led to four visits by Blinken to the region and led to a genocide trial against Israel at the UN World Court.
The Saudis have revived the possibility of establishing relations with Israel, but only if this includes the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
“The painful developments of the last 100 days have proven beyond a doubt that the Palestinian question and the Palestinian people cannot be ignored,” said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
THERE IS NO POST-WAR PLAN
As the war drags on and the death toll rises, there is no clear path to when the fighting will end or what will follow.
Israel says Hamas can play no role in Gaza's future. Hamas says this is an illusion.
The United States and the international community want a revitalized Palestinian Authority to rule Gaza and steps toward a two-state solution. Israel objects.
Israel wants to maintain a long-term military presence in the Gaza Strip. The US does not want Israel to occupy the area again.
Reconstruction will take years. It is unclear who will pay for this or how the needed materials will enter the area through the limited border crossings. And where will people stay during this lengthy process when so many homes are destroyed?
“Our life 100 days ago was excellent. We had cars and houses,” said Halima Abu Daqa, a Palestinian who was displaced from her home in the southern Gaza Strip and now lives in a tent camp.
“Everything was kept from us,” she said. “Everything has changed and nothing remains.”
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Najib Abu Jobain contributed reporting from Muwasi in the Gaza Strip.