AP Photos chronicle 6 months of devastation in Gaza war with no sign of an end

Clouds of parachutes ease the descent of boxes of food toward a landscape of shattered houses in Gaza, watched by Palestinians facing famine. In Tel Aviv, Israeli protesters stand against a police water cannon as they urge the government to make a deal for the release of hostages held by Hamas.

Associated Press photographers have captured what six months of devastating war have brought for Israel and for Palestinians. The images may be disturbing to some viewers.

In Gaza, Israel’s siege, bombardment and offensive have created what U.N. and aid officials call a man-made crisis of near-starvation. Several hundred thousand Palestinians in northern Gaza face imminent famine, with little aid able to reach them, the U.N. says.

In Gaza’s southernmost city, a crowd of children and men thrust their pots and bowls out for meals being distributed by an aid group. An impromptu tent city has blanketed the edges of Rafah, filled with hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled Israel’s offensive in other parts of Gaza. The influx has swelled Rafah to some 1.4 million people, some five times the normal population.

Meanwhile, each day brings more death as strikes topple buildings with families inside. Six months of war have killed more than 33,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

In one photo, a girl looks on in shock as a man carries a child out of the rubble of a building in the southern city of Khan Younis, which has been the focus of Israel’s ground offensive for the past months. With entire blocks now in ruins, parts of Khan Younis are starting to resemble Gaza City in the north, where some estimates say around 70% of buildings have been destroyed or damaged.

In Israel, the public is still gripped by grief and anger over the images from Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, which triggered the war. Storming out of Gaza, the militants rampaged in southern Israeli towns, leaving streets strewn with bodies and entire families killed in their homes. They killed around 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and abducted around 250 others. After a round of releases during a November cease-fire, Hamas still holds an estimated 100 hostages, along with the bodies of around 30 others.

But divisions have begun to open among Israelis as some relatives of hostages demand Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reach a cease-fire deal to win the release of those still in captivity. At the same time, Israel’s international isolation has grown amid growing criticism of the offensive.

At its six-month mark, it is not clear what direction the war will now take. Weeks of mediation by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar for a longer cease-fire have so far been unable to make a breakthrough. But international pressure is going for a halt in the war. Israel has also said it is determined to expand its offensive to Rafah, determined to uproot Hamas from what it says is its last stronghold. That has raised alarm over a possible dramatic increase in casualties and an escalation in the conflict.

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A woman mourns the covered bodies of her child and her husband killed in an Israeli army bombardment of the Gaza Strip, in the hospital in Khan Younis, Tuesday Dec. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

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Police officers evacuate a woman and a child from a site hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

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Palestinian militants drive back to the Gaza Strip with the body of Shani Louk, a German-Israeli dual citizen, during their cross-border attack on Israel, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Ali Mahmud)

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Blood is splattered in a child’s room following a massive Hamas militant attack in Kibbutz Nir Oz, Israel, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

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Israelis killed by Hamas militants lie on the road near Sderot, Israel, on Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

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Israelis take cover from the incoming rocket fire from the Gaza Strip in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

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Israeli security forces inspect charred vehicles burned in the bloody Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas militants, outside the town of Netivot, southern Israel. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

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Israelis evacuate a site struck by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

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Rockets are fired from the Gaza Strip toward Israel over destroyed buildings following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, central Gaza Strip, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Mohammed Dahman)

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Rockets are fired toward Israel from the Gaza Strip, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

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Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Monday, Oct. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

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Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in central Israel, Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

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Palestinians inspect the rubble of destroyed buildings following Israeli airstrikes on the town of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Mohammed Dahman)

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Palestinians are treated as they lie on the floor after being wounded in an Israeli army bombardment of the Gaza Strip, in the hospital in Khan Younis, Tuesday Dec. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

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Palestinians inspect the rubble of destroyed buildings following Israeli airstrikes on the town of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Mohammed Dahman)

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Palestinians evacuate the wounded after an Israeli bombardment of Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali)

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A Palestinian reacts as a child is carried from the rubble of a building after an airstrike in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

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Israeli Lt. Col. Ido Ben Anat stands in an apartment during a ground operation in the Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

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A photo of Keshet Casarotti, 21, who was killed by Hamas militants during their violent rampage through the Nova Music Festival in southern Israel on Oct. 7, is displayed at a vigil honoring the victims on the beach in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

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Israeli soldiers move on armored personnel carriers (APC) near the Israeli-Gaza border as smoke rises to the sky in the Gaza Strip, seen from southern Israel, Sunday, Jan. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

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An off-duty member of Israel’s security forces joins worshippers at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

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Palestinians flee from northern Gaza as Israeli tanks block the Salah al-Din road in the central Gaza Strip on Friday, Nov. 24, 2023, as the four-day cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war begins as part of an agreement that Qatar helped broker. (AP Photo/Mohammed Dahman)

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Israeli soldiers escort the media to an underground tunnel found underneath Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

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Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli strike on residential buildings and a mosque in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

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An Israeli soldier hugs his partner near the border with the Gaza Strip, southern Israel, Friday, Oct. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

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The wife of Israeli reservist Yair Cohen touches his flag-draped casket during his funeral at Kiryat Shaul military cemetery in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

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Family and friends of Israeli soldier Lt. Yaacov Elian mourn over his grave during his funeral at Kiryat Shaul cemetery in Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, Dec. 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

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Mohammad Shouman carries the body of his daughter, Masa, who was killed in an Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, during her funeral in Rafah, southern Gaza, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

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Sivan, mother of Israeli soldier, Sergeant Dolev Malca, screams as she salutes her son during his funeral in Shlomi, northern Israel, on the border with Lebanon, Sunday, March 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

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Palestinians mourn relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip in front of the morgue in Deir al Balah, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

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People wave Israeli flags as a helicopter carrying hostages released from Gaza by Hamas arrives at the helipad of the Schneider Children’s Medical Center in Petah Tikva, Israel, Sunday Nov. 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

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A Red Cross vehicle carrying Israeli hostages drives by at the Gaza Strip crossing into Egypt in Rafah on Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

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Aseel al-Titi, wearing a Hamas headband, a former Palestinian prisoner who was released by the Israeli authorities, is greeted by friends and family members in Balata, a Palestinian refugee camp in Nablus, West Bank, Friday, Nov. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

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A woman touches photos of Israelis missing and held captive in Gaza, displayed on a wall in Tel Aviv, on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

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Palestinian women wash clothes with seawater at the beach in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

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A bulldozer unloads the bodies of Palestinians killed in fighting with Israel and turned over by the Israeli military during a mass funeral in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023.(AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

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Palestinians line up for a meal in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

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A tent camp housing Palestinians displaced by the Israeli offensive is seen in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali)

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Israeli soldiers fire mortars from southern Israel towards the Gaza Strip, in a position near the Israel-Gaza border, on Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

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Humanitarian aid is airdropped to Palestinians over Gaza City, Gaza Strip, Monday, March 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Essa)

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Palestinians line up for a meal in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

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Israeli soldiers stand by a truck packed with bound and blindfolded Palestinian detainees, in Gaza, Friday, Dec. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Moti Milrod, Haaretz)

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Police use water cannons to disperse demonstrators during a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, and calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

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Israeli female soldiers pose for a photo on a position on the Gaza Strip border, in southern Israel, Monday, Feb. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

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Palestinians flee to the southern Gaza Strip on Salah al-Din Street in Bureij, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

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Members of the Al-Rabaya family break their fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan outside their destroyed home by the Israeli airstrikes in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Monday, March 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

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Israeli soldiers embrace next to photos of people killed and taken captive by Hamas militants during their violent rampage through the Nova music festival in southern Israel, which are displayed at the site of the event, to commemorate the October 7, massacre, near kibbutz Re’im, Friday, Dec. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

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Destroyed buildings are seen through the window of an airplane from the U.S. Air Force overflying the Gaza Strip, Thursday, March 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

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Photos of Israelis missing and held captive in Gaza are displayed on a wall in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)