As a possible ceasefire takes shape, Palestinians face the prospect of rebuilding their shattered enclave.
At least 67,194 people have been killed, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, the majority of them (53%) women, children and elderly people.
The war has left 4,900 people with permanent disabilities, including amputations, and has orphaned 58,556 children.
Altogether, one in ten Palestinians has been killed or injured since the war began following Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel.
The attack killed 1,195 people, including 725 civilians, according to Israeli officials. The IDF says that a further 466 Israeli soldiers have been killed during the subsequent conflict in Gaza.
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Swathes of Gaza have been reduced to rubble
More than 90% of Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced, many of them multiple times, following Israeli evacuation orders that now cover 85% of the Gaza Strip.
Few of them will have homes to return to, with aid groups estimating that 92% of homes have been destroyed.
“Despite our happiness, we cannot help but think of what is to come,” says Mohammad Al-Farra, in Khan Younis. “The areas we are going back to, or intending to return to, are uninhabitable.”
The destruction of Gaza is visible from space. The satellite images below show the city of Rafah, which has been almost totally razed over the past two years.
In just the first ten days of the war, 4% of buildings in Gaza were damaged or destroyed.
By May 2024 – seven months later – more than 50% of buildings had been damaged or destroyed. At the start of this month, it rose to 60% of buildings.
A joint report from the UN, EU and World Bank estimated that it would take years of rebuilding and more than $53 billion to repair the damage from the first year of war alone.
A surge in aid
Central to the promise of the ceasefire deal is that Israel will allow a surge of humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip.
The widespread destruction of homes has left 1.5 million Palestinians in need of emergency shelter items.
Many of these people are living in crowded tent camps along Gaza’s coast. That includes Al Mawasi, a sandy strip of coastline and agricultural land that Israel has designated a “humanitarian zone”.
Aid agencies report that families are being charged rent of up to 600 shekels (£138) for tent space, and over $2,000 (£1,500) for tents.
Israel has forbidden the entry of construction equipment since the war began and has periodically blocked the import of tents and tent poles.
Restrictions on the entry of food aid have created a famine in Gaza City, and mass hunger throughout the rest of the territory.
Data from Israeli border officials shows that the amount of food entering Gaza has frequently been below the “bare minimum” that the UN’s famine-review agency says is necessary to meet basic needs.
As a result, the number of deaths from malnutrition has skyrocketed in recent months.
To date, Gaza’s health ministry says, 461 people have died from malnutrition, including 157 children.
“Will Netanyahu abide this time?”
As talks of a ceasefire progressed, the Israeli assault on Gaza City continued.
Footage shared on Tuesday, the two-year anniversary of the war, showed smoke rising over the city following an airstrike.
A video posted on Wednesday, verified by Sky News, showed an Israeli tank destroying a building in the city’s northern suburbs.
Uncertainty still remains over the future of Gaza, with neither Israel nor Hamas agreeing in full to the peace plan presented by US president Donald Trump. So far, only the first stage has been agreed.
A previous ceasefire, agreed in January, collapsed after Israel refused to progress to the agreement’s second stage. With that in mind, many in Gaza are cautious about their hopes for the future.
“Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time?,” asks Aya, a 31-year old displaced Palestinian in Deir al Balah.
“He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now.”
Additional reporting by Sam Doak, OSINT producer.
The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
