The word of conflict between Israel and Hamas, the Islamic resistance organization, spread in October 2023. Gaza launched thousands of rockets into Israel, they infiltrated Israeli towns and communities, and abducted Israeli civilians and soldiers. In response to Hamas’s attack, Israel sent troops along Gaza’s borders, blocking fuel, electricity, and essential needs, and sent airstrikes into Gaza.
The subsequent conflict has resulted in Israel’s repeated attacks on Gaza, which have reached destructive levels. Dozens of religious structures, specifically mosques, have been reduced to rubble. Gaza’s situation seems to have worsened as airstrikes and ground operations destroy homes, hospitals, and food supply centers. Their access to essential needs such as medication, electricity, food, fuel, and water has left millions displaced and in dire need of humanitarian aid, according to Al Jazeera.
Along with health facilities, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) facilities have also been impacted in hundreds as they’ve been struck with airstrikes; many schools and shelters proposed as housing for displaced people have been hit.
According to URNWA, displacement is massive and is only increasing by the day. In just a few months, about 120,000 people have fled their homes.
In recent strikes, 53 Palestinians were killed by the hands of Israel, and 16 buildings in Gaza City were leveled and demolished.
Many of Gaza’s health facilities, such as hospitals and mental health centers, have been rendered useless, as they are approaching collapse, leaving thousands without shelter or necessary help.
In 2025, a United Nations (UN) commission had concluded that Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. According to the UN Commission of Inquiry Report, Four of the five acts under the 1948 Genocide Convention were cited as evidence: Killing members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group, deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part, and imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.
At the same time, the UN commission also accused Israel of seeking indefinite control and domination over Gaza, through expansion and displacement.
Since 2007, Israel has kept a blockade on Gaza, but during the latest Israel-Hamas conflict, which escalated in October 2023, Israel applied exceptional restrictions in late 2024 and early 2025. After months of tightening blockades that limited humanitarian supplies in 2024, at the beginning of 2025, Israel cut off relief for almost 3 months. In fall 2025, Israeli authorities seized nearly forty aid vessels on their way to Gaza, detaining nearly five hundred activists and humanitarian workers, including climate activist Greta Thunberg, who reported additional horrible conditions during her captivity.
While the blockade and military operations evacuated thousands of residents, restricted urgent food and medical supplies, and forced millions to live in degraded conditions, the rapid rise of blocked access continued to be challenging, even with hundreds of trucks of humanitarian relief entering under a U.S.-mediated ceasefire.
Consequently, famine has officially become widespread in Gaza, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Over 500,000 people have been trapped in these conditions. Analysts warn that famine has begun to spread to surrounding areas, such as Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis.
WHO also cited that the available nutrition is severely limited and has resulted in little to no food diversity remaining in Gaza. Households are now reliant on cereals and pulses (edible, dry seeds of plants) and deprived of vegetables, proteins, and dairy.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that since July 2025, more than one in three people in Gaza go days on end without eating. It is said that nearly 320,000 children are now potentially at risk of acute malnutrition.
Aid is very strict and constrained. In September 2025, the UN Security Council attempted to provide a resolution, requiring Israel to lift its restrictions on Humanitarian Aid in Gaza. The resolution was vetoed by the United States.
Even when aid managed to make it past the restrictions and constraints, seeking that aid has become deadly, as thousands of civilians have been killed near distribution sites.
Palestinian Raeda Zietoon, an assistant principal at Linganore High School (LHS), shared her thoughts on the war. Zietoon believes that although many big countries and organizations have recognized Palestine as a state, there must be some action taken.
“We need to push our representatives and government to open up the borders for food,” Zietoon said. “At least food can get to them.”
She said that blocking access to sustenance while being genocided and killed was like “adding insult to injury.”
IslamiCity states that for Muslims in Gaza, prayer has become one of the many acts of resilience. The adhan, the call to prayer, has continued to gather Muslims in destroyed Mosques and homes to pray among the dead and the rubble. Faith has guided Palestinian Muslims to have faith and endurance in times like these. “I think we’re starting to be more grateful for what we have and not take things for granted,” Zietoon said. “Whatever problem we’re facing right now, it’s nothing compared to what they’re going through. I think it’s made us more faithful and stronger in our faith.”
The grief over this assault has spread globally and has affected Palestinian and Muslim communities in intense ways. Islamic Society of Frederick (ISF) Mosque board member Khalil Elshazly provided insight on how this issue has affected Palestinians and Muslims across the world.
“Muslim communities have been deeply affected by the siege on Gaza,” Elshazly said. “There are many Palestinian-Americans who have lost loved ones, and many people have friends who have been directly affected. Aside from this direct connection, the majority of Muslims, as well as many non-Muslim people of conscience, live in a state of anxiety, fear, and sadness as we follow the news.”
In addition to empathy felt for those directly impacted by the war in Gaza, Elshazly noted that Muslims and Palestinians of all ages in the Frederick community are experiencing increased rates of harassment and threatening behavior.
Regarding supporting Palestine, Elshazly and Zietoon both believe that people should raise awareness and encourage others to engage in acts of charity.
“We have a variety of responses,” Elshazly said. “Calling and writing to our senators and our congressional representatives, attending vigils, lobbying efforts, and city council meetings, all to influence even symbolic resolutions supporting a ceasefire.”
The US proposed a peace plan in an attempt to end the war, proposing a ceasefire, hostage exchange, and a new government structure in Gaza. It included a ceasefire to end the violence and allow for the return of all hostages.
According to The Guardian, Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, accepted the plan but only under the circumstance that Hamas disarms and Gaza remains under Israeli security control. Although there is no plan set in stone for how Gaza will be governed, the disarmament of Hamas is part of the plan.
Critics, however, say that this heavily favors Israel and excludes Palestinian voices. Palestinians also see the proposal to be dictation over their government and territory. The New York Post states that the U.S. is continuing to make diplomatic efforts to support the ceasefire. President Donald Trump warned Hamas to go along with the ceasefire or “Be eradicated.” Internationally, Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey have urged Hamas to accept the peace plan and are proposing a peacekeeping force as well as support in Gaza’s reconstruction.
The 2025 Palestinian crisis has been recognized as one of the most drastic humanitarian emergencies in modern times. Famine, displacement, damaged infrastructure, political exclusion, and abuse of power and rights all combine into an unprecedented destructive disaster.
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