Barricaded Gaza becomes death trap

The war has challenged not just Israel, but also Arab neighbours, Western powers, and human rights defenders

- MARK LANDLER

Of all the grim distinctions of the yearlong war in Gaza that followed the savage Hamas attack on Israel last October 7, one may stand out for its deadly singularity: Palestinian civilians there have nowhere to go. Barricaded by barbedwire fences, tanks and soldiers, they have been effectively imprisoned for 12 months in a 141-square-mile strip of land between Egypt and Israel that has become a killing zone.

That irreducible fact, rare in even the most catastrophic wars, has magnified the death toll from Israel's military campaign to root out the Hamas militants. It has challenged not just Israel's avenging army, but also Arab neighbours, Western powers, aid and refugee groups and human rights defenders.