Israelis mourn 7 October attack victims as Gaza lies in ruins three years on

This is the first anniversary of the 7 October attack with no hostages remaining in Gaza, but a US-brokered ceasefire deal from last year has failed to deliver peace or bring security.

There has been no end to Gaza’s deadliest ever war, as Israel continues to carry out near-daily attacks.

More than 1,460 people have been killed there since the ceasefire took effect, according to Gaza health ministry. The Israeli military says at least seven Israeli soldiers have been killed in the strip over the same period.

Most of Gaza is in ruins, with nearly all the 2.1 million population still displaced amid dire humanitarian conditions.

An estimated 80% of all structures have been destroyed or damaged during the war, leaving more than 60 million tonnes of rubble piled up and 1.2 million people living in tents or shelters, according to the UN.

Families who have been displaced several times during the war increasingly ask where they could go next, and whether they might even be forced to leave Gaza altogether.

Mohammed Emad al-Din, a 38-year-old father of two who works as a barber in Gaza City, said he had been displaced five times. His home was destroyed and his barber shop was partially damaged.

He told the BBC that the fear of being forced out of Gaza now follows him even into his dreams.

“I don’t believe Israel caused all this destruction for nothing,” he said.

“They have turned Gaza into a place that is almost impossible to live in, and I fear that we will eventually end up outside the place where we were born.”

Another displaced Palestinian, Atta Saeed Hassan Shweikh, told the BBC that his son, daughter, sister and her children had all been killed during the war.

Speaking from Gaza City, he said Palestinians were “living in graves while still alive” and have endured “severe suffering”.

At least three Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes in the northern town of Beit Lahia and the southern city of Khan Younis on Wednesday, medics said.

The Israeli military said it struck two Hamas operatives in northern Gaza overnight, one of whom it accused of planting explosives near the so-called Yellow Line, which marks the territory still occupied by Israeli forces.

Hamas – which is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the UK and others – released a statement praising the 7 October attack as a “historic milestone” in its “ongoing struggle project”.

The statement, attributed to the group and disseminated in Palestinian media, called the attack “a natural response” to “bitter suffering” imposed by Israel.