54,000 Dead, Lakhs Wounded: The Haunting Reality of Gaza After 600 Days of Israel-Hamas War

International News: Today it has been 600 days since the war between Israel and Hamas. On 7 October 2023, when Hamas terrorists attacked southern Israel, hardly anyone would have thought that this conflict would last for so long and take the lives of so many innocent people. So far, more than 54 thousand people have died in Gaza, and about 1.23 lakh people have been injured. Not only missiles and bombs but also hunger, lack of treatment, and siege of the entire population are responsible for these figures.

Israel had closed all crossings to Gaza since March 2. Neither food, nor medicine, nor any relief material—nothing was being allowed to enter. According to the United Nations and many human rights organizations, the situation has become so bad that people are now searching for food items in the garbage heaps. According to Al Jazeera's report, a woman and her daughter in Gaza City were searching for cooked rice and dry bread in the garbage thrown near the destroyed buildings. They were preparing to feed their children by boiling whatever they found.

After three months of continuous blockade, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) opened its first relief distribution center in Rafah. But as food was being distributed, a crowd of thousands broke through the barricades. There was chaos, and the Israeli army opened fire to disperse the crowd. According to the Gaza government, three people were killed and 46 injured in the firing.

The complicated math on the ceasefire

Since the war against Hamas began in Gaza, 148 hostages have returned alive, of whom 105 were released during the 2023 ceasefire, 5 were released by Hamas without any agreement, 8 were rescued by the Israeli army, and 30 were released during this year's ceasefire. Now the mediating countries are trying to get an immediate ceasefire for the release of the remaining hostages, but Israel is constantly threatening to launch a major ground attack across Gaza.

Meanwhile, there is a huge contradiction in the statements of Israel, America, and Hamas regarding the ceasefire. Everyone is saying their own thing, but no concrete result has come out. The Trump government has also started openly putting pressure. Trump recently said that we are talking to Israel and want all this to end as soon as possible.

Netanyahu is being criticized

Here, the threat of a ground attack by Israel has made its traditional allies Britain, France and Germany uncomfortable. Criticism of these countries has also started coming out openly. In their insistence of not having direct dialogue, Israel and Hamas are engaged in back channel diplomacy through intermediary countries. In short, diplomacy is going on for the release of hostages and ceasefire, but the destination still seems far away.

Demand for accountability in international courts too
Serious action is now being taken in international courts regarding this war. In November 2024, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Galant for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

At the same time, a case of genocide in Gaza is going on against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ). So the bottom line is that there is no clear end in sight to this war that has been going on for six hundred days, nor any humanitarian solution. Every day has become a matter of life and death for the common people of Gaza. The childhood of children, the honor of women and the prayers of the elderly, everything is turning into ashes.