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NPR News

Photos: Humanitarian crisis grows in Gaza as mediation attempts resume

NPR | By NPR Staff
Published February 26, 2024 at 1:36 PM EST
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
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.

This 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
/
Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images
Palestinians stand in damaged structures after an overnight Israeli bombardment in Rafah, in southern Gaza, on Thursday, Feb. 22.

Israeli 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:

Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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
/
Reuters
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.
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
/
Maya Levin for NPR
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.
Palestinian children look at a cemetery in Rafah on Wednesday, Feb. 21.
Said Khatib / AFP via Getty Images
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AFP via Getty Images
Palestinian children look at a cemetery in Rafah on Wednesday, Feb. 21.
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
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AP
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.
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
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AFP via Getty Images
Israeli security forces stand guard as Palestinians observe their noon prayers on a street in east Jerusalem on Friday, Feb. 23.
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
/
Ayman Oghanna for NPR
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.
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
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Tamir Kalifa 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.
People survey what remains of buildings in Rafah that were hit by Israeli bombardments on Sunday, Feb. 25.
Anas Baba / NPR
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NPR
People survey what remains of buildings in Rafah that were hit by Israeli bombardments on Sunday, Feb. 25.
Palestinian attend Friday prayers while Israeli Border Police officers stand guard in Jerusalem on Friday, Feb. 23.
Ammar Awad / Reuters
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Reuters
Palestinian attend Friday prayers while Israeli Border Police officers stand guard in Jerusalem on Friday, Feb. 23.
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
/
Maya Levin for NPR
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.
People survey the remains of a mosque Sunday, Feb. 25, that had been leveled by Israeli strikes on Rafah.
Anas Baba / NPR
/
NPR
People survey the remains of a mosque Sunday, Feb. 25, that had been leveled by Israeli strikes on Rafah.
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
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AFP via Getty Images
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.
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
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AP
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.
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
/
Ayman Oghanna for NPR
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.
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
/
Ayman Oghanna 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.

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