Two years have elapsed under a genocidal war that has left Gaza in a state of ruin. Homes are flattened, trees scorched, entire neighbourhoods shattered; human lives, animals, livelihoods, none spared. Starvation stalks the land. Displacement is ceaseless. The destruction has exceeded any remaining threshold of what might once have been called “humanitarian crisis.”

Adnan Abu Hasna, serving as media adviser for UNRWA, depicts a populace stripped of certainty. He reveals that over two million people have repeatedly faced severe hunger. The blockade is total. Food insecurity grips everyone. Cases of starvation have mounted, with dozens dying. UNRWA’s work has been curtailed for over a year, banned from operating fully in Palestinian territories. The flow of aid is blocked or constrained constantly.

Poverty is near universal, ninety per cent of Gaza’s inhabitants endure it. Essential services have collapsed. Many households receive next to no food aid; restrictions have halted supply routes. Damage to housing stock is overwhelming: the majority of homes are destroyed or barely habitable. More than three-quarters of the population have had to flee their homes at least once. Water, power, sanitation, all are failing. Institutions that once held communities together are now crumbling ruins.

The health system, once a source of stability, is now on the brink of total annihilation. Over 90 per cent of hospitals have been damaged or destroyed; only a few still limp along, often functioning far below capacity amid shortages of fuel, medicine, and staff. Beds are scarce; thousands wounded and ill lie without treatment. Death among the injured is rising, not merely from wounds themselves, but from lack of care, infections, and disease. Clean drinking water is a rare commodity in many northern areas. The cycle of loss deepens: every delay, every blockade, every denial of exit for treatment means more lives extinguished.

At the same time, municipal infrastructure lies in tatters. Fire stations, rescue vehicles, water pumps, sewage systems, roads, all have been compromised or destroyed. City mayors report deliberate destruction of fundamental services, making displacement not just the outcome but the strategy. Tents replace homes. Rubble replaces streets. Winter looms, and with it the threat not just of cold, but of death for those with no shelter, no heat, no water. Bread, once a staple, has become a luxury. Bakeries can rarely function; flour, fuel, infrastructure are gone or destroyed. Starvation is being used as a means of warfare; access to basic sustenance is intermittently cut off; hunger is a daily companion.