Hamas killed 1,200 people on October 7. Since then, 23,800 people have been killed in attacks in Gaza. There is no end in sight to the conflict.

Protest calling for the release of Hamas hostages on the Israel-Gaza border Photo: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa

War in numbers

On day 100 of the Gaza war, the preliminary results are devastating. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, more than 23,800 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip since October 2023. In the brutal terrorist attack on October 7 last year, Palestinian extremist groups killed more than 1,200 people in Israel. In the worst massacre in Israel's history that sparked the war, terrorists also kidnapped some 250 people and took them to the Gaza Strip.

Israel assumes that 136 people are still detained there or that their bodies will not be released. According to government figures, 25 people are believed to be no longer alive. A total of 105 hostages were freed during a week-long ceasefire in late November as part of an agreement between the Jerusalem government and Hamas. In exchange, Israel released 240 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.

The situation of the population of the Gaza Strip remains dramatic. After 100 days of war, only 13 of the 36 hospitals remain partially operational. According to the United Nations, there is also a risk of famine in the Palestinian territory. The heavily bombed coastal strip had become “uninhabitable.” About 360,000 residential units were damaged or destroyed. This means that more than half a million of Gaza's 2.2 million residents no longer have a home to return to after the war. According to UN figures, 1.9 million people in the Palestinian territory have been displaced one or more times as a result of the fighting.

According to government figures, more than 200,000 people in Israel had to leave their homes to seek safety from Hamas attacks in the south of the country and attacks by Lebanese Hezbollah in the north. About ten million people live in Israel. Deadly clashes between the Israeli military and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia continue to occur on the Israel-Lebanon border as a result of the Gaza war. In Israel's northern neighbor, more than 76,000 people have been displaced due to tensions, according to the Organization for Migration (IOM). (dpa)

Netanyahu: “No one will stop us”

Almost 100 days after the start of the war, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken out strongly in favor of continuing the offensive in the Gaza Strip. “No one will stop us,” Netanyahu said at a news conference on Saturday. “It is possible and necessary to continue until victory and that is what we will do,” announced the head of Government.

The televised press conference took place on the eve of the 100th day of the war between Israel and the radical Islamic group Hamas. On October 7, the Palestinian organization launched a brutal attack against Israel, killing 1,140 people and kidnapping around 250 in the Gaza Strip. In response to the unprecedented attack by Hamas, Israel declared war on the Islamist organization and launched a massive military operation in the Gaza Strip.

The head of the Israeli army assured that his compatriots will never forget the Hamas attack. “We are fighting for our right to live safely here,” Herzi Halevi said in a televised speech. It is a “just war” that “will last a long time,” Halevi predicted. (afp)

Thousands of people protest in London against the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip

Thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators have protested in London against Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip. Police, who had about 1,700 officers on duty Saturday, warned protesters not to “intentionally cross borders” with their signs and chants. The demonstration was part of a day of action in 30 countries called by various organizations in Great Britain.

Since the start of the war between Israel and the radical Hamas, demonstrations have been held in London on weekends. Saturday's protest was special because Britain had attacked Iranian-backed Houthi militia positions in Yemen the day before. Previously, the militia had repeatedly attacked merchant ships in the Red Sea linking Israel. The Shiite rebels see themselves as part of the self-proclaimed “Axis of Resistance” directed against Israel, of which Hamas is also a part. (afp)