300 days of Israel's war on Gaza: Death, devastation and horror

Israel's war on Gaza has been raging for 300 days, resulting in the deaths of nearly 40,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and leaving the coastal enclave almost entirely in ruins.

Over 90,000 Palestinians have been wounded in relentless Israeli bombings, with thousands more estimated to be buried under the rubble.

The ongoing Israeli assault, in which on the average 131 Palestinian have died daily since October 7, 2023, is an atrocity of tragic proportions to which the world has largely turned a blind eye.

Israel launched its war in Gaza after Hamas fighters attacked areas in southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.

Despite global calls for a ceasefire, Israel has continued with the bloody war.

As Palestinians mark 300 days since the war started, here's a recap of the atrocities carried out by the Israeli military.

Wiping out a culture

More than half of Gaza's buildings, including hospitals and homes, and hundreds of sites of cultural and religious significance, have been damaged or destroyed in relentless Israeli attacks since last October.

Satellite imagery analysis reveals that around 50 percent of the total structures in Gaza and approximately 62 percent of all homes have been damaged or destroyed.

The catastrophic damage has left more than a million Palestinians without homes and nearly 2.3 million residents displaced. They face acute shortages of food, clean water and medical services.

Targeted shelling and air strikes on sites of religious and cultural significance have disfigured Gaza, making it a distant memory for the Palestinians who have struggled against Israel to keep the connection to their land and history intact.

The Great Omari Mosque, the largest and oldest in Gaza, believed to stand on the site of an ancient Philistine temple, is among the destroyed sites. So is the fifth-century Byzantine church of Jabalia, dating back to 444 CE. The church, one of the most important in the Levant, had undergone a three-year restoration of its mosaic floors before being reduced to rubble.

The obliteration of Gaza's built environment and cultural heritage is what South Africa's legal team cited as evidence in its case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), arguing that Israel is committing acts of genocide and other war crimes.

The lawsuit, first heard in January, stated that "Israel has damaged and destroyed numerous centres of Palestinian learning and culture", including museums, libraries, archives, universities, and religious and archaeological sites.

Mass graves

Israel faces accusations of serious war crimes after mass graves were found in Gaza's Nasser and al Shifa hospitals, where Palestinian victims were found stripped naked with their hands tied, as per the UN.

At least 30 bodies of Palestinians were recovered from two mass graves at al Shifa Hospital following a 14-day Israeli siege of the hospital, the largest in Gaza, in March. The hospital was largely reduced to ruins after Israel withdrew on April 1.

Another 283 corpses were found in a mass grave at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis after the Israeli army withdrew from the city on April 7 following a four-month ground invasion.

The UN rights chief said he was "horrified". The US also sought information from Israel on the "incredibly troubling" reports.

The inaction of the international community has only emboldened Israel to the extent that it bombed Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp 63 times within seven days just two weeks ago, killing more than 90 people.

The Nuseirat camp, one of the most densely populated camps in Gaza, was housing 250,000 Palestinians. After Israeli strikes, more than 75 percent of the 250-plus injured were admitted to hospitals with burns. Gaza's government media office said Israel used thermal and chemical weapons.

The UN courts

Earlier in May, the ICJ delivered a new set of strong and legally binding provisional measures in South Africa's case against Israel.

The court ordered Israel to immediately halt its military offensive, ensure unimpeded access to any UN-mandated body to investigate allegations of genocide, and to maintain open land crossing points, including the Rafah crossing with Egypt, for unhindered provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian aid.

In addition, Israel was ordered to submit a report to the court on all measures taken within one month.

The ruling was made in light of the unprecedented and deteriorating humanitarian situation Palestinians in Gaza are facing as Israel intensifies its genocidal military campaign, which has been ongoing for nearly 10 months.

But Israel has continued to flout UN resolutions and ICJ rulings calling for an immediate halt to fighting and ensuring access to humanitarian aid.

Scuttling ceasefire efforts

Israel has continued to increase its provocations by scuttling ceasefire efforts with its latest attack and assassination of the Hamas political bureau leader Ismail Haniyeh.

Haniyeh, who had been the chairman of the Hamas political bureau since 2017 and the prime minister of the Palestinian National Authority between 2006 and 2014, was a widely recognised moderate figure in the resistance group.

Haniyeh was also a top Palestinian negotiator in both Qatar and Egypt-led ceasefire talks with Israel.

His assassination could delay the ceasefire.

By killing Haniyeh, the top Palestinian negotiator, and also targeting a top Hezbollah leader in Beirut, Israel sends a message of aggression to the region, ringing war bells.

Anxious residents in Israeli-besieged Gaza voiced fear that his death would only prolong the war ravaging the Palestinian enclave.