Photos: Humanitarian crisis grows in Gaza as mediation attempts resume
The family of Amal Hassan Al Durr, a 5-year-old girl, weeps inconsolably behind the ambulance transporting her body in Majdal Zoun, Lebanon, on Thursday, Feb. 22. Diego Ibarra Sánchez for NPR hide caption
The family of Amal Hassan Al Durr, a 5-year-old girl, weeps inconsolably behind the ambulance transporting her body in Majdal Zoun, Lebanon, on Thursday, Feb. 22.
Diego Ibarra Sánchez for NPRThis past week, mediators met in Paris to negotiate a potential deal for a pause in the fighting in Gaza; talks have since moved to Qatar. And the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) released a report saying that 2.2 million Palestinians were at "imminent risk of famine."
While Egypt continues to push for a temporary cease-fire between Hamas and Israel, it is also preparing for the possibility of an Israeli push into Rafah and the possible influx of Palestinians across the border, into the Sinai Peninsula.
Palestinians stand in damaged structures after an overnight Israeli bombardment in Rafah, in southern Gaza, on Thursday, Feb. 22. Yasser Qudihe/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Palestinians stand in damaged structures after an overnight Israeli bombardment in Rafah, in southern Gaza, on Thursday, Feb. 22.
Yasser Qudihe/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty ImagesIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also released his vision for the "The Day After Hamas" — a series of proposals the prime minister aims to implement once the war is over. This included Israel maintaining indefinite, free military operations in Gaza.
Here is what photojournalists on the ground documented this past week:
Families and supporters of hostages kidnapped amid the deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas block a road during a protest calling for the hostages' release in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Friday, Feb. 23. Tomer Appelbaum/Reuters hide caption
Families and supporters of hostages kidnapped amid the deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas block a road during a protest calling for the hostages' release in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Friday, Feb. 23.
Tomer Appelbaum/Reuters
Israeli soldiers practice evacuating wounded people with a helicopter during a military drill in northern Israel on Tuesday, Feb. 20, in an effort to prepare for a potential escalation in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Maya Levin for NPR hide caption
Israeli soldiers practice evacuating wounded people with a helicopter during a military drill in northern Israel on Tuesday, Feb. 20, in an effort to prepare for a potential escalation in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Maya Levin for NPR
Palestinian children look at a cemetery in Rafah on Wednesday, Feb. 21. Said Khatib/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Palestinian children look at a cemetery in Rafah on Wednesday, Feb. 21.
Said Khatib/AFP via Getty Images
A woman holds a mask depicting the faces of Shiri Bibas and her sons Kfir and Ariel, Israelis who are being held hostage in Gaza, during a protest on Wednesday, Feb. 21, in Tel Aviv to demand their release. Oded Balilty/AP hide caption
A woman holds a mask depicting the faces of Shiri Bibas and her sons Kfir and Ariel, Israelis who are being held hostage in Gaza, during a protest on Wednesday, Feb. 21, in Tel Aviv to demand their release.
Oded Balilty/AP
Israeli security forces stand guard as Palestinians observe their noon prayers on a street in east Jerusalem on Friday, Feb. 23. Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Israeli security forces stand guard as Palestinians observe their noon prayers on a street in east Jerusalem on Friday, Feb. 23.
Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images
Suheir Barghouti's son, Saleh, was shot dead by the Israeli military in 2018 in the West Bank city of Ramallah, a short distance from their home. Six years later, she still doesn't know where his body is. Ayman Oghanna for NPR hide caption
Suheir Barghouti's son, Saleh, was shot dead by the Israeli military in 2018 in the West Bank city of Ramallah, a short distance from their home. Six years later, she still doesn't know where his body is.
Ayman Oghanna for NPR
Israeli police use water cannons to disperse demonstrators blocking a road in Tel Aviv on Saturday, Feb. 24, as they protest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and demand the release of hostages still being held in Gaza. Tamir Kalifa for NPR hide caption
Israeli police use water cannons to disperse demonstrators blocking a road in Tel Aviv on Saturday, Feb. 24, as they protest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and demand the release of hostages still being held in Gaza.
Tamir Kalifa for NPR
People survey what remains of buildings in Rafah that were hit by Israeli bombardments on Sunday, Feb. 25. Anas Baba/NPR hide caption
People survey what remains of buildings in Rafah that were hit by Israeli bombardments on Sunday, Feb. 25.
Anas Baba/NPR
Palestinian attend Friday prayers while Israeli Border Police officers stand guard in Jerusalem on Friday, Feb. 23. Ammar Awad/Reuters hide caption
Palestinian attend Friday prayers while Israeli Border Police officers stand guard in Jerusalem on Friday, Feb. 23.
Ammar Awad/Reuters
Israeli soldiers practice evacuating wounded people with a helicopter during a military drill in northern Israel on Tuesday, Feb. 20. The Israeli Defense Forces said the exercises reflected new methods developed while evacuating wounded soldiers in Gaza during the current conflict. Maya Levin for NPR hide caption
Israeli soldiers practice evacuating wounded people with a helicopter during a military drill in northern Israel on Tuesday, Feb. 20. The Israeli Defense Forces said the exercises reflected new methods developed while evacuating wounded soldiers in Gaza during the current conflict.
Maya Levin for NPR
People survey the remains of a mosque Sunday, Feb. 25, that had been leveled by Israeli strikes on Rafah. Anas Baba/NPR hide caption
People survey the remains of a mosque Sunday, Feb. 25, that had been leveled by Israeli strikes on Rafah.
Anas Baba/NPR
This picture, taken from a position in southern Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip, shows Israeli battle tanks crossing the border into northern Gaza on Monday, Feb. 19. Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
This picture, taken from a position in southern Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip, shows Israeli battle tanks crossing the border into northern Gaza on Monday, Feb. 19.
Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images
Gillian Brisley arranges clothes in her relatives' home in Kibbutz Be'eri, in southern Israel, on Wednesday, Feb. 21. Gillian's daughter and two granddaughters were killed in Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, and their son-in-law was taken captive. Ohad Zwigenberg/AP hide caption
Gillian Brisley arranges clothes in her relatives' home in Kibbutz Be'eri, in southern Israel, on Wednesday, Feb. 21. Gillian's daughter and two granddaughters were killed in Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, and their son-in-law was taken captive.
Ohad Zwigenberg/AP
Suheir Barghouti's living room, which she's turned into a shrine filled with posters of her sons and her late husband, all involved to varying degrees in the conflict, in her home in Ramallah. Ayman Oghanna for NPR hide caption
Suheir Barghouti's living room, which she's turned into a shrine filled with posters of her sons and her late husband, all involved to varying degrees in the conflict, in her home in Ramallah.
Ayman Oghanna for NPR
A child standing inside a damaged building stares at the Al-Faruq mosque, leveled by Israeli bombardment in Rafah on a foggy day on Sunday, Feb. 25. Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
A child standing inside a damaged building stares at the Al-Faruq mosque, leveled by Israeli bombardment in Rafah on a foggy day on Sunday, Feb. 25.
Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images
Relatives of Amal Hassan Al Durr, a 5-year-old girl, grieve her loss after she was killed during an Israeli attack Thursday, Feb. 22, in Majdal Zoun, Lebanon. Amal was playing outside her uncle's house with her mom and her sister. Khadija Salman, a 40-year-old woman, was also killed in the same attack. Diego Ibarra Sánchez for NPR hide caption
Relatives of Amal Hassan Al Durr, a 5-year-old girl, grieve her loss after she was killed during an Israeli attack Thursday, Feb. 22, in Majdal Zoun, Lebanon. Amal was playing outside her uncle's house with her mom and her sister. Khadija Salman, a 40-year-old woman, was also killed in the same attack.
Diego Ibarra Sánchez for NPR
A couple, one armed, pose for a photo in front of a mock Hamas tunnel in what has become known as Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Monday, Feb. 19. This is a round-the-clock encampment for those seeking the return of Israelis held by Hamas in Gaza. Ayman Oghanna for NPR hide caption
A couple, one armed, pose for a photo in front of a mock Hamas tunnel in what has become known as Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Monday, Feb. 19. This is a round-the-clock encampment for those seeking the return of Israelis held by Hamas in Gaza.
Ayman Oghanna for NPR