Gaza War's catastrophic consequences on children
Gaza. March 2024. Soon after the start of the intense Israeli bombardment in response to Hamas-led
terror attacks in Israel on 7 October , Unicef has raised the alarm of children dying at an alarming
rate. More than five months of incessant and indiscriminate Israeli air strikes compounded by a
ground operation to destroy Hamas have claimed the life of over 32,000 Palestinians, and injured
tens of thousands more, the majority of whom being women and children. While entire families
have been killed, a large number of children have lost their parents, sustained major injuries, and
lost limbs.
To date 85% of Gaza’s population has been pushed into internal displacement with improvised tents
leaving Palestinians exposed to cold weather and rain, and to illnesses, in addition to the constant
threat from indiscriminate bombardment and further displacement. According to the UN more than
half of all buildings in the densely populated Gaza Strip, and nearly three-fourths of them in the
northern part of Gaza have been either damaged or destroyed, and that includes schools and
universities. The majority of hospital and health care facilities have been systematically targeted
with only few left partially functioning, and with reports of the arrest and torture of medics.
The already besieged Palestinian enclave has been completely sealed with very minimal
humanitarian aid allowed into Gaza by Israel. Amid bombardments and the acute shortages of clean
water, food, and medicines, Palestinians have developed a weak immune system with
undernourished and dehydrated children being particularly at risk. The malnutrition and hunger
crisis is now giving way to famine, with Palestinians, especially children, beginning to die of hunger
daily despite a few humanitarian airdrops. The collapse of social order in Gaza is used as an excuse
by Israeli soldiers to shoot at desperate hungry Palestinians trying to grab some of the very limited
aid a
Winter Misery Continue For Displaced Syrians In Idlib.
Harem, Idlib, Syria.16 January 2024. Children amid the wet and muddy winter conditions in the informal displacement camps in the Harem countryside of the Idlib governorate in northwest Syria.
Gaziantep, Turkiye. 14 January 2024. A huge demonstration in support of Gaza and Palestinians is held in the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep. Thousands of participants waved the Palestinian flag, wore the Palestinian kufiyah, and called for an immediate ceasefire in the pounded Gaza Strip. The event was organised by the al-Furkan movement in Turkey, with its president, Alparslan Kuytul, attending the event
Palestinian Islamic Jihad Military Parade In Gaza
Rafah, Gaza Strip, Palestine. 9 August 2023. Palestinians attend a military parade of the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah. The event was held to commemorate Palestinian Islamic Jihad members targeted by Israel over the last year, as well as the PIJ fighters killed in Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip in May 2023
Report: Tina Lozio/IMAGESLIVE
Photographer: Yousef Mohammed/IMAGESLIVE
Jenin, West Bank Palestine. 5 July 2023. Ruins and much destruction in the Jenin refugee camp following Israel's extended military operation which started early on Monday 3rd July. Palestinians who had fled the Jenin refugee camp after the start of the military offensive are now returning to the camp to assess the damage or destruction to their homes and to join the funeral of the 12 Palestinians killed by the Israeli military during the assault
Oil Wrestling Competition In Gaziantep, Turkiye.
#Gaziantep, #Turkiye. 24 June 2023. The annual Oil Wrestling competition is held in the Şahinbey municipality of the Gaziantep Province of Turkiye. Oil Wrestling is a popular traditional sport in Turkiye where it is believed to have been practiced since the 14th century, when it was performed by soldiers to keep fit and ready for battle. Olive oil is applied on the body of the wrestlers before the competition, which takes place on a flat grassy area
Women from Syria: an unfinished story
As the war gets underway in Syria following the Arab Spring uprising in the country, journalist Osama Jumaa documents the tragic reality on the ground and the brutality of the conflict, while also filming stories of resilience and hope amid the ongoing violence. As the fighting set in, a number of women take up arms and join the battles, with the Umma Aisha Women's Brigade confronting the Syrian government forces close to the Aleppo Citadel. It is also in the Old City of Aleppo that former detainee Marwa assists her husband Samer in building an anti-aircraft rocket in their home.
With the war in full blast, former teacher Hasna, law student Eba, and Maysa, become nurses and join the Civil Defence, to rescue and assist people trapped under the rubble. Osama would film their work and highlight its enormous danger, especially when Eba is injured in airstrikes at the MSF-supported hospital in Maarat Al Numan. As a deep fuel crisis grips Syria to compound the country’s misfortunes, the elderly woman Marsha is forced to burn branches for cooking and heating. Despite the profound despair around her in Saraqib, Safaa sings for the Syrian revolution while longing for peace. In Atma, Sana engages with a group of children of detainees in Syrian prisons, teaching them to dance, sing, and act, before taking them to perform in Syrian IDP camps to offer some respite to displaced children.
Tragically, another deep wound struck Syria on June 5, 2016, when Osama is killed in artillery fire in Aleppo's Al-Mashad district. Osama had gone to that neighbourhood to film rescue operations after an attack with barrel bombs. Thus, the filming terminates abruptly. Yet, Osama will always stand high-headed, staring at the camera and drawing every moment that narrates the war, destruction, and immense suffering in his scarred Syria - always with his deep integrity, objectivity, and courage, but also with extreme humanity and compassion
Children play with colourful butterflies following the official opening of the first topical beetle garden in Turkiye at the Gaziantep Wildlife Park. The ceremony was attended by several Turkish officials including the Mayor of Gaziantep Fatma Şahin, and the deputy candidate of the Justice and Development Party in #Gaziantep, Abdulhamit Gul
Report: Tina Lozio/IMAGESLIVE
Photographer:Zakariya Yahya/IMAGESLIVE
Tunisian Coast Guard stops migrant boats crossing to Italy
Sfax, Tunisia. 8-9 June 2023. Officials of the Tunisian Maritime National Guard intercept boats of migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea before returning the migrants to the shores of the Tunisian eastern port city of Sfax on board of Coastal Guard's vessels. The Sfax region with its 150 Km of coastline is an important hub for both Tunisians and Sub-Saharan migrants attempting to undertake the perilous journey across the Mediterranean to reach the southern coasts of Italy. The recent operations by the Tunisian Coast Guard were carried out few days after the visit of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to Tunisia on June 6th. Discussions between Tunisian president Kais Saied and Prime Minister Meloni included the management of illegal migratory flows from Tunisia to southern Italy.
Report: Tina Lozio/IMAGESLIVE
Photographer:Hasan Mrad/IMAGESLIVE
Tribute to journalist Osama Jumaa in Gaziantep, Turkiye
Gaziantep, Turkiye. 1 June 2023. IMAGESLIVE holds an event in Gaziantep to commemorate the 7th anniversary of the tragic death of IMAGESLIVE Syrian photojournalist Osama Jumaa. The function coincided with the release online of both the Arabic and English versions of the film-documentary by Osama Jumaa on the Syrian conflict "Women from Syria: an Unfinished Story”. The event was held at the Teymur Continental Hotel in Gaziantep and attended by prominent journalists, photojournalist, writers, and academics from Gaziantep University and Gaziantep University of Islamic Sciences and Technology, as well as by representatives from local and international organisations
Al Fasher, Darfur, Sudan. 15 April 2023. Members of the Sudanese Army seize a vehicle of the Rapid Support Forces after killing their members near an army command centre in the city of Al Fasher
Idlib, Syria. 15 March 2023. A large demonstration takes place in Idlib on the twelfth anniversary of the launch of the uprising against Bashar al-Assad's rule. Participants waved the Syrian opposition flag, while upholding their determination to continue the revolution against "the al-Assad regime" and opposing any ongoing effort by countries in the region to normalise ties with Damascus. The already battered opposition-held northwestern Syria has also been recently devastated by a powerful earthquake that has killed thousands of people and has further worsened the already desperate humanitarian situation in the area
Gaziantep, Turkiye. 26 February 2023. A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkiye and north and west Syria on February 6 with a devastating effect in the area along the Turkiye-Syria border where 25 million people live. The quake, which was followed by a 7.7 tremor, has caused a total death toll of more than 50,000 with more than 44,000 in Turkiye and 7,000 in Syria confirmed dead, with thousands injured, and the number of casualties constantly increasing. Hundreds of thousands of buildings have been destroyed leaving more than 1.5 million people homeless.
In Turkiye search and rescue operations were immediately launched with emergency workers overwhelmed by the huge devastation and extended needs. Emergency teams from all over the world travelled to Turkiye to help with the rescue operations, which came to a halt in all but two areas a fortnight after the first quake, when the hope of finding more survivors under the rubble had faded. The worst-hit provinces in southern Turkiye were the provinces of Kahramanmaras, and Hatay.
From the beginning authorities have also concentrated on the care of the survivors, affected by traumas, left without a home and basic services, while being exposed to the elements and to freezing temperatures. Public buildings such as mosques and community centres which had withstood quakes were used as shelters for the evacuees, with a large number of tents being set up in stadiums, sports grounds, and open spaces far from damaged buildings.
Despite the earth constantly rumbling, survivors had begun to return to their homes which were deemed safe, or were hoping to be able to return soon, while in towns and cities only partially destroyed by the quake life were slowly assuming a semblance of normality. But that changed when a 6.4 magnitude tremor occurred near the city of Antalya, in the hard-hit Hatay Province, on February 20, two weeks after the first quake. Authorities reported at least 6 people killed and 294 injured by the new q
Practicing Taekwondo in the blockaded Gaza
Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip, Palestine. January 2023. Palestinian children and youths perform Taekwondo on a beach in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip. They practice Taekwondo by the Mediterranean Sea, which is one of the few sources of respite available in the Palestinian enclave. Taekwondo is a Korean martial art which fosters physical strength and agility, together with discipline, patience, and mental strength.
The Gaza Strip is 41 Km long, and from 6 to 12 Km wide. With its population of 2.1 million people, the Palestinian enclave is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Nearly 70% of the people in Gaza are Palestinian refugees who were displaced in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and their descendants. Eight refugee camps were established in Gaza in the aftermath of the war.
Since the Arab-Israeli 1967 War, Gaza has been under Israeli occupation. Although Israel pulled its troops out of the Strip and dismantled the 21 Jewish settlements in 2005, a form of indirect occupation persisted. Israel has kept its control on Gaza’s borders, crossing points, territorial waters, and airspace. Israel has also maintained a buffer zone inside Gaza along the border fence with Israel.
The already severe restrictions on the movement of people and goods to and from Gaza have further intensified in 2007, when Israel imposed a land, sea, and air blockade on the enclave, coinciding with Hamas taking power in Gaza following the 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections. Israel has justified the blockade on the basis of security reasons, while the UN and human rights organisations have severely condemned it. The siege has also been supported by Egypt through its tight control of the Rafah border crossing.
The Israeli siege has further isolated Gaza, practically sealing its borders for Palestinians under a constrictive regime of permits. It has also limited the entry of essential goods like fuel, electricity, cooking gas, me
Devastating earthquakes strikes Syria
Aleppo, Syria. 11 February 2023. The devastated northern Syrian town of Jindires, in the Aleppo governorate, following a recent 7.8-magnitude quake in northwest Syria. Major search and rescue operations have been carried out incessantly in the town by the Syrian Civil Defence with the support of local civilians. The earthquake, which has also been followed by a major tremor and constant shockwaves, has hit both northwest Syria and southern Turkey with the death toll across the two countries continuing to rise and with thousands of buildings collapsed. The damaged roads and infrastructures, as well as the freezing temperatures, have obstructed the disaster response in both countries, especially in northwest Syria.
In Syria, the provinces of Aleppo, Idlib, Hama, Latakia, Tartous, have all been struck by the quakes, with the towns of Jindires, Atme, Atarib and Saraqeb, already ravaged by years of conflict, being particularly affected. At least 2,637 people have died and 7,216 have been injured in Syria according to the latest figures, with thousands being made homeless. Even before the earthquake hit, Syrians were in much need of humanitarian aid, due to the ongoing conflict, damaged infrastructure, displacement, western sanctions, major fuel shortages, and a decimated economy, making the country particularly vulnerable in the case of a natural disaster.
The situation is deemed particularly dire in northwest Syria, where the conflict has been quite intense, and where its population has been exposed for years to massive economic hardships and major displacement. The Syrian Civil Defence have been responsible for the rescue operations in opposition-controlled areas, struggling with their limited and overstretched resources and lack of adequate equipment. Furthermore, the logistic complexity of the delivery of disaster relief in the quake-affected areas in Syria has restricted the distribution of much needed relief aid and of essen
Khan Yunis, Gaza, Palestine. 26 December 2022. Heavy rains and flooding affecting the daily life of Palestinian in the city of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip. Gaza has been hit by heavy rains in the past two days, with roads overflowing and hundreds of homes being damaged, seriously affecting thousands of Palestinians in Gaza
Idlib, Syria. 26 December 2022. Children in the Sheikh Bahr camp near the town of Armanaz, in the countryside of Idlib. The already dire humanitarian situation of internally displaced people in the northwest of Syria further deteriorates with the onset of winter. Most of the residents of the #camp live in makeshift tents hardly protecting them from the cold season, amid the ongoing low-level conflict in #Syria
Overnight Israeli Airstrikes In Gaza, Palestine
Gaza, Palestine. December 4, 2022. Palestinian Territories. Fire and smoke rise over buildings in Gaza during an airstrike carried out by Israeli warplanes early on Sunday morning. The Israeli air forces targeted several sites in the Gaza Strip overnight, after a rocket was fired from Gaza towards Israel on Saturday evening
Journalist Medyan Dairieh interviews Free Syrian Army Colonel in Aleppo
Journalist and filmmaker Medyan Dairieh interviews Free Syrian Army Colonel Abdul Jabbar Akaidi, head of the Aleppo Revolutionary Military Council, in the Salah al-Din district of Aleppo, in October 2012, during the early phase of the Syrian conflict.
(IMAGESLIVE Archives)
#Syria
