Pictures of the Year International

The bodies of Fatima, 3, and Zeinab, 1, were carried to the cemetery for burial during a funeral procession through the streets of the Beddawi refugee camp near Tripoli, Lebanon, on October 5, 2024. An Israeli drone strike had hit a building in the Palestinian refugee camp killing four members of the Alì family. Saeed, a Hamas Al Qassam Brigades fighter, his wife Shaida, and their daughters Fatima and Zeinab were killed in their sleep. Thousands of mourners followed the girls’ small, white-shrouded bodies as they were laid to rest in the camp’s cemetery. The war between Israel and Hezbollah, which erupted in full scale by September 2024, is a direct result of escalating regional tensions, particularly following the October 7, 2023, attacks in Gaza. Hezbollah's rocket fire into Israeli cities triggered a fierce Israeli response, including airstrikes that killed Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah. Israeli forces launched extensive bombings targeting Hezbollah positions and civilian infrastructure and buildings, devastating large parts of Lebanon. The crisis worsened with a ground incursion along the border, deepening the humanitarian catastrophe. The conflict has resulted in over 3,500 deaths and thousands of injuries, exacerbating an already dire situation for the civilian population.