Scourge of war lingers in Gaza as uncertainty looms over prospect for peace

CAIRO, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- In the midst of the raging turmoil in the Middle East, Gaza undoubtedly stands as the "eye of the storm."

The year 2024 has borne witness to the spillover of the Hamas-Israel conflict, which has spread its tendrils into multiple countries across the region, evolving into a significant regional crisis.

According to Gaza-based health authorities, since the outbreak of the Hamas-Israel conflict, the Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has topped 45,000, and more than 1,300 Palestinian families have been completely wiped out from the land.

As Hamas and Israel remain locked in a tug of war over political differences, for the people of Gaza, who are still living under the shadow of death and hunger at this moment, politics feels like a distant concern; what they truly yearn for is a return to a stable and peaceful life.

A woman mourns for victims at Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, Aug. 13, 2024. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua)

A Palestinian woman is seen at a school housing displaced people in Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip after an Israeli attack, Oct. 14, 2024. (Photo by Marwan Dawood/Xinhua)

An injured girl is treated at a hospital in central Gaza Strip city of Deir el-Balah, March 8, 2024. (Xinhua)

Relatives mourn at the funeral of a Palestinian woman killed during an Israeli attack in a refugee camp in the West Bank city of Tulkarm, July 24, 2024. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua)

A Palestinian child is seen on the rubble in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, Jan. 27, 2024. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

A Palestinian girl looks at the debris of a building after Israeli airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, Feb. 3, 2024. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua)

A woman is pictured in front of a damaged building after Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Sept. 29, 2024. (Xinhua/Bilal Jawich)

People try to get food relief in Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, Aug. 29, 2024. (Photo by Mahmoud Zaki/Xinhua)

People mourn victims after Israeli bombardment in the Al-Zawaida area in the central Gaza Strip, Aug. 17, 2024. (Photo by Marwan Dawood/Xinhua)

Palestinian children are seen after receiving food relief in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, Sept. 24, 2024. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

People mourn victims after an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, Jan. 5, 2024. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua)

Mohammed Al-Aqad looks at his war-damaged apartment at the Yarmouk camp in Damascus, Syria, June 19, 2024. (Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua)

People inspect the damage after an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, Feb. 22, 2024. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

People attend a rally calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon as well as the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Nov. 9, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Junqing)

Rescue work is underway after Israeli attacks in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, Jan. 7, 2024. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua)

People line up to receive food relief at a food distribution center in the city of Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Dec. 20, 2024. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

Displaced Palestinian children play at a shelter in Gaza City on Dec. 9, 2024. (Photo by Mahmoud Zaki/Xinhua)

A displaced child is seen among tents in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, Nov. 10, 2024. (Photo by Abdul Rahman Salama/Xinhua)

A woman holding a cat is pictured near ruins after Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Oct. 2, 2024. (Xinhua/Bilal Jawich)

A teacher gives a lesson at a temporary classroom in central Gaza Strip city of Deir el-Balah, April 26, 2024. (Xinhua)

Akram Harb sits in a shelter in Gaza City, Dec. 13, 2024. Harb, a 13-year-old Palestinian, was injured in an Israeli attack at his house in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip in October, 2024. (Photo by Mahmoud Zaki/Xinhua)

Muhammad Jamal Abbas, a Damask Rose farmer, picks roses in the town of al-Marah in the northern countryside of Damascus, Syria, May 28, 2024. (Photo by Monsef Memari/Xinhua)

A clown performs for children in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, Sept. 5, 2024. (Photo by Marwan Dawood/Xinhua)