Death, destruction and despair reigns a month into latest Israel-Gaza conflict

By The Associated Press

Death, destruction and despair.

For the past month it has reigned on both sides of the border separating Israel and the Gaza Strip.

Grief is in the tears of Israelis burying the 1,400 people — mostly civilians, including babies — slain by Hamas militants who stormed into Israel on Oct. 7.

It is in the anguished screams of Palestinians as the bodies of some of the more than 10,000 people reportedly killed by Israeli airstrikes — 40% of them children — are pulled from the wreckage of shattered homes.

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Images are heart-wrenching and horrific.

Palestinians transport a captured Israeli civilian, center, from Kibbutz Kfar Azza into the Gaza Strip on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. The militant Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip carried out an unprecedented, multi-front attack on Israel at daybreak Saturday, firing thousands of rockets as dozens of Hamas fighters infiltrated the heavily fortified border in several locations by air, land, and sea and catching the country off-guard on a major holiday. (AP Photo)

An elderly Israeli woman is spirited away from a kibbutz to Gaza on the back of a motorcycle, sandwiched between a driver and a militant pointing a rifle to the sky.

Israeli soldiers walk past at least nine bodies strewn on a sidewalk next to a bus shelter with bags and belongings scattered around them. A child’s bunk bed is covered in blood.

Early scenes of Palestinian men raising their arms in victory atop an Israeli tank set ablaze during the raid quickly give way to ones of devastation: whole blocks of Gaza reduced to black-and-white wastelands as relentless missile strikes light up the night sky in balls of flame and glowing clouds of smoke.

The decapitated dome of Yassin Mosque rests atop the collapsed roof of the house of worship, one of many destroyed in Gaza.

In the aftermath of explosions, men dig with bare hands in mountains of shattered concrete blocks in the search for survivors.

Palestinians evacuate two wounded boys out of the destruction following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Abed Khaled)

Two wounded boys, one with a trickle of blood running from his scalp, cry as they grasp each while being rushed for help on a stretcher.

A rescuer standing near the teeth of a giant backhoe lifts up the limp body of a dead little girl. Two bare feet poke out from under a slab of concrete and rebar next to pair of dirt-covered legs that dangle from the rubble.

The dead are not forgotten.

In Israel, the flag-draped coffins of five members of a family whose bodies were found embracing each other in death are laid to rest side-by-side after a military funeral attended by hundreds.

In Gaza, adults crowd around the corpses of seven small Palestinian children lying next to each other wrapped in plastic and covered in sheets in the Khan Younis morgue. They would appear to be sleeping if not for the bloodstains on their faces.

Palestinian militants drive back to the Gaza Strip with the body of Shani Louk, a German-Israeli dual citizen, on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. The militant Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip carried out an unprecedented, multi-front attack on Israel at daybreak Saturday, firing thousands of rockets as dozens of Hamas fighters infiltrated the heavily fortified border in several locations by air, land, and sea and catching the country off-guard on a major holiday. (AP Photo/Ali Mahmud)

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)

Palestinians transport a captured Israeli civilian, center, from Kfar Azza kibbutz into the Gaza Strip on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. The militant Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip carried out an unprecedented, multi-front attack on Israel at daybreak Saturday, firing thousands of rockets as dozens of Hamas fighters infiltrated the heavily fortified border in several locations by air, land, and sea and catching the country off-guard on a major holiday. (AP Photo) — Palestinians transport a captured Israeli civilian, center, from Kfar Azza kibbutz into the Gaza Strip on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo)

Rockets are fired toward Israel from the Gaza Strip on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Israeli soldiers walk by civilians killed by Hamas militants in Sderot, Israel, on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Blood is seen splattered in a child's room following a massive Hamas militant attack in Kibbutz Nir Oz, Israel, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. Nir Oz is one of more than 20 towns and villages in southern Israel that were ambushed in the sweeping assault by Hamas on Oct. 7. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Civilians killed by Hamas militants lie covered in Sderot, Israel, on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

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

Israeli soldiers walk by a civilian killed by Hamas militants in Sderot, Israel, on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip infiltrated Saturday into southern Israel and fired thousands of rockets into the country while Israel began striking targets in Gaza in response. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg) — Israeli soldiers walk by a civilian killed by Hamas militants in Sderot, Israel, on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Israelis inspect a damaged residential building after it was hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon, Israel, Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Erik Marmor)

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

Palestinians carry the body of a dead child who was found under the rubble of a destroyed house after Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Abed Khaled)

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)

Fire and smoke rise following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

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

Palestinians react after removing a dead body from the rubble of a building after an Israeli airstrike in Jebaliya refugee camp, Gaza Strip, Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Ramez Mahmoud )

Palestinians wounded in Israeli strikes are brought to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Ali Mahmoud)

Palestinians evacuate a building hit in an Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip in Rafah on Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali)

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)

EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - Palestinians carry a dead child that was found under the rubble of a destroyed house following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Abed Khaled)

Wounded Palestinians lie on the floor in al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, central Gaza Strip, after arriving from al-Ahli hospital following an explosion there, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. The Hamas-run Health Ministry says an Israeli airstrike caused the explosion that killed hundreds at al-Ahli, but the Israeli military says it was a misfired Palestinian rocket. (AP Photo/Abed Khaled) — Wounded Palestinians lie on the floor in al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, central Gaza Strip, after arriving from al-Ahli hospital following an explosion there, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Abed Khaled)

An Israeli firefighter kneels to compose himself after he and his colleagues extinguished cars set on fire by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip in Ashkelon, Israel, Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Kenzi al Madhoun, a four-year-old who was wounded in an Israeli bombardment, lies at Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah City, Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Fire and smoke rise following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Israeli soldiers move a tank at a staging area near the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel on Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Palestinians inspect the rubble of the Yassin Mosque destroyed after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike at Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, early Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

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)

An Israeli soldier walks by a house destroyed by Hamas militants in kibbutz Be'eri on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. The kibbutz was overrun by Hamas militants from Neraby Gaza Strip Saturday when they killed and captured many Israelis. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner) — An Israeli soldier walks by a house destroyed by Hamas militants in kibbutz Be’eri on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

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

An Israeli soldier mistakenly thinks he hears an air raid siren and jumps to the ground to take cover in kibbutz Be'eri, Israel, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. The kibbutz was overrun by Hamas militants from Neraby Gaza Strip Saturday when they killed and captured many Israelis. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg) — An Israeli soldier mistakenly thinks he hears an air raid siren and jumps to the ground to take cover in kibbutz Be’eri, Israel, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Eli Albag cries over the photograph of his daughter Liri during a protest demanding the release of dozens of Israelis who were abducted during last week's unprecedented Hamas attack, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco) — Eli Albag cries over the photograph of his daughter Liri during a protest demanding the release of dozens of Israelis who were abducted during last week’s unprecedented Hamas attack, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

An Israeli soldier hugs his partner near the border with the Gaza Strip, southern Israel, Friday, Oct. 20, 2023. The Israeli military has beefed up ground forces near the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected ground invasion as the latest war between Israel and Hamas militants completes its second week. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg) — An Israeli soldier hugs his partner near the border with the Gaza Strip, southern Israel, Friday, Oct. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Photos of Israelis missing and held captive in Gaza are displayed on a wall in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. The Israeli army says some 200 people were kidnapped and taken to Gaza in Hamas' cross-border attack on Israel on Oct. 7. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg) — 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)

A Palestinian girl 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)

A wounded Palestinian woman runs away following Israeli airstrikes that targeted her neighborhood in Gaza City on Monday, Oct. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Abed Khaled)

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. The cars were collected and placed in an area near the Gaza border after the attack, in which 1,400 people were killed and some 240 people were taken hostage. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Palestinians look for survivors following Israeli airstrike in Nusseirat refugee camp, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Doaa AlBaz)

Residents of Kibbutz Kfar Azza bind their hands and wear blindfolds during a rally in solidarity with friends and relatives held hostage in the Gaza Strip, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023. Hamas militants overran the small farming community during a bloody cross-border raid from Gaza on Oct. 7. Eighteen residents were kidnapped and taken to Gaza, among them seven children, the youngest three years old. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) — Residents of Kibbutz Kfar Azza bind their hands and wear blindfolds during a rally in solidarity with friends and relatives held hostage in the Gaza Strip, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

An injured Palestinian boy cries as rescuers try to pull him out of the rubble of a destroyed building following an Israeli airstrike in Bureij refugee camp, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Mohammed Dahman)

Israelis take cover in a shelter as a siren sounds a warning of incoming rockets fired from the Gaza strip, in Ashkelon, Israel, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

A boy lights candles in the form of the Star of David in honor of victims of the Hamas attacks during a vigil at the Dizengoff square in central Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Oct 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

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

The 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)

A man walks past a newly painted graffiti that reads Hamas equal ISIS, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Oct. 30, 2023. On Oct. 7, more than 1,400 people, primarily Israeli civilians, were killed and some 230 captured in an unprecedented, cross-border attack by Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) — A man walks past a newly painted graffiti that reads Hamas equal ISIS, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Oct. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Antonio Macías' mother cries over her son's body covered with the Israeli flag at Pardes Haim cemetery in Kfar Saba, near Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023. Macias was killed by Hamas militants while attending a music festival in southern Israel earlier this month. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco) — Antonio Macías’ mother cries over her son’s body covered with the Israeli flag at Pardes Haim cemetery in Kfar Saba, near Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023. Macias was killed by Hamas militants while attending a music festival in southern Israel earlier this month. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Palestinians mourn their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip in front of the morgue in Deir al Balah, Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023. ( AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Mourners gather around the five coffins of the Kotz family during their funeral in Gan Yavne, Israel, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. The family was killed by Hamas militants on Oct. 7 at their house in Kibbutz Kfar Azza near the border with the Gaza Strip. More than 1,400 people were killed and some 200 captured in an unprecedented, multi-front attack by the militant group that rules Gaza. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg) — Mourners gather around the five coffins of the Kotz family during their funeral in Gan Yavne, Israel, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - Palestinians stand around the bodies of children killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip in a morgue in Khan Younis, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Israeli forensic experts work on bodies of Israelis killed by Hamas militants in the National Center for Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Mourners gather around the graves of British-Israelis Lianne Sharabi and her two daughters, Noiya,16, and Yahel,13, during their funeral in Kfar Harif, Israel, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. Lianne Sharabi and her two daughters were killed by Hamas militants on Oct. 7 in kibbutz Be'eri near the border with the Gaza Strip. More than 1,400 people were killed and some 200 captured in an unprecedented, multi-front attack by the militant group that rules Gaza. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit) — Mourners gather around the graves of British-Israelis Lianne Sharabi and her two daughters, Noiya,16, and Yahel,13, during their funeral in Kfar Harif, Israel, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. Lianne Sharabi and her two daughters were killed by Hamas militants on Oct. 7 in kibbutz Be’eri near the border with the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Palestinians mourn their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip in a morgue in Khan Younis, Sunday, Oct. 29, 2023. ( AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Friends and relatives of Yonat Or carry her coffin during her funeral at Kibbutz Palmachim, Israel, on Sunday, Oct. 29, 2023. Or was killed by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, in Kibbutz Be'eri near the border with the Gaza Strip. More than 1,400 people were killed and some 220 captured in an unprecedented, multi-front attack on Israel by the militant group that rules Gaza. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit) — Friends and relatives of Yonat Or carry her coffin during her funeral at Kibbutz Palmachim, Israel, on Sunday, Oct. 29, 2023. Or was killed by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, in Kibbutz Be’eri near the border with the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Israeli soldiers and Shlomit Lipshitz, center, mother of Staff Sgt. Lavi Lipshitz salutes over her son's grave during his funeral in the Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem, Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023. Lipshitz was killed during a ground operation in the Gaza Strip. Israeli ground forces have been operating in Gaza in recent days as Israel presses ahead with its war against Hamas militants. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg) — Israeli soldiers and Shlomit Lipshitz, center, mother of Staff Sgt. Lavi Lipshitz salutes over her son’s grave during his funeral in the Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem, Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023. Lipshitz was killed during a ground operation in the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Mourners embrace during the funeral of Meni and Ayelet Godard, in Kibbutz Palmachim, Israel, Sunday, Oct. 29, 2023. The Israeli couple were killed by Hamas militants on Oct. 7 in kibbutz Be'eri near the border with the Gaza Strip. More than 1,400 people were killed and some 220 captured in an unprecedented, multi-front attack on Israel by the militant group that rules Gaza. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit) — Mourners embrace during the funeral of Meni and Ayelet Godard, in Kibbutz Palmachim, Israel, Sunday, Oct. 29, 2023. The Israeli couple were killed by Hamas militants on Oct. 7 in kibbutz Be’eri near the border with the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Israeli tanks head towards the Gaza Strip border in southern Israel on Thursday, Oct.12, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Palestinians displaced by the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip sit by a fire in a UNDP-provided tent camp in Khan Younis, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

An Israeli man wearing a prayer shawl prays next to houses destroyed by Hamas militants in Kibbutz Be'eri, Israel, Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023. The kibbutz was overrun by Hamas militants from the nearby Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, when they killed and captured many Israelis. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit) — An Israeli man wearing a prayer shawl prays next to houses destroyed by Hamas militants in Kibbutz Be’eri, Israel, Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Palestinian woman collects seawater to wash clothes at the beach in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on Thursday, November 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Palestinians walk by the buildings destroyed in the Israeli bombardment on al-Zahra, on the outskirts of Gaza City, Friday, Oct. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Ali Mahmoud)

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