The Cold Arithmetic of Gaza's Three-Year War

Three years after October 7, 2023, when Hamas armed groups killed 1,139 people in southern Israel and abducted roughly 240 hostages, the resulting war in Gaza has settled into a grim arithmetic. Diplomats may speak of political frameworks, but the ledger on the ground paints a starker reality. Approximately 74,000 Palestinians have been killed, including at least 21,000 children, according to figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Because these tallies rely strictly on hospital registries, the actual number of fatalities beneath the rubble remains uncounted.

The physical environment of the strip has been systematically dismantled. Data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs indicates that 82 percent of all structures in Gaza are destroyed, driving nearly two million residents—90 percent of the population—from their homes. What remains of public life exists in makeshift conditions. Around 93 percent of schools now require complete reconstruction, and 63 university buildings have been ruined or repurposed into crowded shelters for the displaced.

Healthcare facilities have fared no better under the prolonged campaign. Out of 666 medical sites across the territory, only 42 remain functional, leaving 94 percent of hospitals and clinics partially or fully out of service. World Health Organization figures suggest that roughly a quarter of the 175,000 injured individuals suffer from permanent, life-altering conditions requiring complex rehabilitation that local infrastructure simply cannot provide. Meanwhile, water infrastructure damage has left 91 percent of households facing acute supply shortages, with nearly half the population surviving on less than six liters of water daily.

The gap between diplomatic rhetoric and physical reality is nowhere more visible than in the status of the October 10, 2025 ceasefire. While United States officials maintain that the agreement remains intact, records from the Palestinian Ministry of Health indicate that over 1,460 Palestinians have been killed and more than 5,000 wounded since the truce was officially proclaimed. An analysis of local reporting shows military strikes occurring on 325 out of 361 days following the agreement.

Independent verification of these developments remains constrained by strict media controls. Foreign journalists are barred from entering the territory independently, restricted to military-escorted embeds, while nearly 300 media workers have been killed since the outbreak of hostilities. As basic civic functions remain collapsed and essential services reduced to survival levels, the operational definition of peace in the region continues to stretch the limits of language.

Written by Freya Stensrud freya.stensrud@alpineweekly.com