Three Years On: How War Has Transformed Gaza Beyond Recognition

Three years after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and the devastating war that followed, Gaza has been reshaped to a degree that many observers say renders the territory almost unrecognizable. A new France 24 video report, issued on October 7, 2026, examines the scale of destruction across the enclave and the profound changes wrought by 36 months of conflict.

The anniversary has prompted a wave of commemorative coverage, with France 24 marking the date through a series of reports. These include a detailed hour-by-hour reconstruction of how the Hamas attack on Israel unfolded, and separate coverage of how Israelis are marking three years since the assaults. The Palestinian territory that emerged from the war, however, stands at the center of the anniversary's grim accounting.

According to the source material, the war has left devastation across Gaza on a scale that has fundamentally altered its physical landscape. Entire neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble, and the cumulative effect of three years of fighting has transformed what was already one of the world's most densely populated areas into a landscape defined by ruin and displacement.

The humanitarian dimensions of the crisis are difficult to overstate. With housing stock destroyed or damaged across much of the territory, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been forced into repeated displacement, often moving multiple times as fighting shifted from one area to another. The reconstruction challenge alone, experts suggest, would take years if not decades to address even under ideal conditions — and conditions in Gaza remain far from ideal.

Infrastructure has been a central casualty of the conflict. Water and sanitation systems, electricity networks, medical facilities, and road connections have all sustained heavy damage, complicating every aspect of daily life for civilians who remain in the enclave. Public health experts have repeatedly warned that the collapse of basic services creates conditions ripe for disease outbreaks and long-term health crises.

The scale of the destruction has also raised urgent questions about accountability and the conduct of the war. International human rights organizations have documented widespread civilian harm, while legal proceedings in international courts continue to examine allegations related to the conflict. The debate over proportionality and the protection of civilians remains deeply contested among governments and legal scholars.

On the Israeli side, the anniversary has been marked with ceremonies and reflections on the October 7 attack, which killed roughly 1,200 people and saw some 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli figures. The fate of remaining hostages has remained a painful and politically charged issue throughout the three years, with families of captives repeatedly pressing their government for action.

The political landscape within Israel has also been shaped by the war's trajectory. Questions about what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knew in advance of the October 7 attack — a subject France 24 addressed in a separate anniversary report — have fueled domestic criticism and calls for an official inquiry. The war's conduct and its strategic outcomes continue to be debated inside Israel as fiercely as abroad.

Regionally, the conflict has had ripple effects well beyond Gaza and Israel. The source material notes related tensions, including Houthi attacks in Yemen, where fighting has intensified in parallel with the broader regional instability. These interconnected flashpoints illustrate how the Gaza war became a catalyst for wider Middle Eastern volatility.

Diplomatic efforts to end the fighting and chart a postwar future have repeatedly stalled. Successive rounds of negotiations involving regional mediators and international powers have struggled to produce a durable arrangement acceptable to all parties. The absence of a clear political horizon has left Gazans facing profound uncertainty about what comes next.

Reconstruction financing represents another unresolved challenge. Donor countries and international institutions have signaled that any rebuilding effort would require not only massive funding but also a stable security environment and a credible governing authority in Gaza — neither of which is currently assured. Without those elements, analysts warn, rebuilding could be repeatedly undone.

For ordinary Palestinians in Gaza, the past three years have meant living through what many describe as a daily struggle for survival. Access to food, clean water, and medical care has remained precarious, and the psychological toll on a population that includes a large proportion of children is expected to be felt for generations. Mental health professionals caution that the trauma of the period will shape Gaza's society long after the fighting stops.

The international community's response has been criticized from multiple directions. Some argue that humanitarian aid has been insufficient and inconsistently delivered; others contend that political and security conditions have been inadequately addressed. The result, critics say, is a gap between stated concern and measurable improvement in conditions on the ground.

As the third anniversary passes, the France 24 report underscores a central reality: Gaza as it existed before October 2023 no longer exists. Whether the territory can be rebuilt — physically, economically, and socially — depends on political decisions that have yet to be made, and on a level of international commitment that has yet to materialize.

For now, the anniversary serves less as a moment of closure than as a marker of how much remains unresolved. The war's human cost, its regional consequences, and its unanswered political questions all continue to shape the present, even as the enclave itself bears the visible scars of three years of devastation.