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Everyone in Gaza is effected, but children's lives have been changed most of all. The conflict has taken a massive toll on the mental health of the children.

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It has been a few days since the announcement of a long-term ceasefire between Israel and Hamas -- representing the halt of a conflict that has claimed the lives of over 2,000 people, more than 400 of whom were children.

The Gaza-Israel conflict has also left thousands of children with deep psychological wounds that may take years to heal. Children have lost their families, their homes and their ability to attend school. Nearly half a million children in Gaza will not be able to start school on time because of school damage incurred during the fighting.

It's important to remember that children and youth are the most vulnerable populations in these crises. At critical developmental stages in their lives, they process violence and trauma in a profoundly different way than do adults. And during times of conflict, they are deprived of an opportunity to live a happy, secure childhood without the threat or fear of violence. Schools turn into bomb shelters. Homes shake from shelling and bombing. Fun outdoor activities are unavailable. And in the long term, this exposure to threats and violence create lasting negative effects which can significantly impact their future.

SOS Children's Villages provides loving and safe homes for vulnerable children in both Israel and the Palestinian Territories. At our SOS Village in Israel, children were forced to hide in bomb shelters to protect themselves from nearby shelling. At our SOS Village in Rafah, a southern city in the Gaza strip, our children and staff members could feel and see the impact of the war.

"'Why are so many people killed? Why have so many houses been destroyed?' I cannot help with anything. I cannot even answer," shared one of our SOS mothers after speaking with her children about the conflict.

All children have the right to a safe and healthy life, an education, protection and a childhood free from violence. We urge all parties of the conflict to ensure the ceasefire is maintained, and to respect their fundamental obligation under international human rights law to protect the lives and well-being of all children. Children are our future, and deserve to be protected. We must do everything in our power to keep them safe from harm.
To make a direct impact today, sponsor a village in Israel or Gaza and support the children living through this conflict.

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The Impact of War on Children in Israel and Gaza

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It has been a few days since the announcement of a long-term ceasefire between Israel and Hamas -- representing the halt of a conflict that has claimed the lives of over 2,000 people, more than 400 of whom were children. The Gaza-Israel conflict has also left thousands of children with deep psychological wounds that may take years to heal.

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It is looked at as a terrorist by the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union so probably bad.

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Hamas is the largest of several Palestinian militant Islamist groups.

Its name is an Arabic acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement, originating as it did in 1987 after the beginning of the first intifada, or Palestinian uprising, against Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

It originally had a dual purpose of carrying out an armed struggle against Israel - led by its military wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades - and delivering social welfare programmes.

But since 2005, it has also engaged in the Palestinian political process, becoming the first Islamist group in the Arab world to win election through the ballot box (before reinforcing its power in Gaza by ousting its Fatah rivals).

Hamas as a whole, or in some cases its military wing, is designated a terrorist group by Israel, the US, EU, and UK, as well as other powers. Under its charter, the group is committed to the destruction of Israel.

To its supporters, though, Hamas is seen as a legitimate resistance movement.

In May 2017, the group published a new policy document for the first time since its founding. It declared a willingness to accept an interim Palestinian state within pre-1967 boundaries, without recognising Israel, and did not repeat the anti-Jewish language of its charter.

The text was seen as an effort by Hamas to soften its image, though the group made clear it did not replace the charter.

In 2006, Hamas won a stunning victory in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) elections, but tensions with the rival Fatah faction of Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas heightened.

Deadly clashes between Fatah and Hamas erupted in Gaza in June 2007, after which Hamas set up a rival government, leaving Fatah and the PA running parts of the West Bank not under Israeli control.

Israel held Hamas responsible for all attacks emanating from the Gaza Strip, and has carried out three major military campaigns in Gaza - Operation Cast Lead in December 2008, Operation Pillar of Defence in November 2012, and Operation Protective Edge in July 2014.

The offensives were preceded by escalations in cross-border fighting, with scores of rocket attacks from Gaza, and air strikes against it by Israel.

Hamas emerged from the 2008 and 2012 conflicts militarily degraded but with renewed support among Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank for having confronted Israel and survived.

The group nevertheless continued to struggle under the joint blockade imposed on Gaza by Israel and Egypt, and became increasingly isolated after falling out with regional powers in the wake of the Arab Spring. The overthrow in July 2013 of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, a key ally, was a further blow.

In April 2014, Hamas agreed a reconciliation deal with Fatah that led to the formation of a national unity government, but it has never been fully implemented.

Suicide bombings

Hamas came to prominence after the first intifada as the main Palestinian opponent of the Oslo peace accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).

Despite numerous Israeli operations against it and clampdowns by the Palestinian Authority, Hamas found it had an effective power of veto over the process by launching suicide attacks.

In February and March 1996, it carried out several suicide bus bombings, killing nearly 60 Israelis, in retaliation for the assassination in December 1995 of Hamas bomb maker Yahya Ayyash.

The bombings were widely blamed for turning Israelis off the peace process and bringing Benjamin Netanyahu - a staunch opponent of the Oslo accords - to power.

In the post-Oslo world, most particularly following the failure of US President Bill Clinton's Camp David summit in 2000 and the second intifada which followed shortly thereafter, Hamas gained power and influence as Israel clamped down on the Palestinian Authority, which it accused of sponsoring deadly attacks.

Hamas organised clinics and schools, which served Palestinians who felt let down by the corrupt and inefficient Palestinian Authority, dominated by the Fatah faction.

Many Palestinians cheered the wave of Hamas suicide attacks in the first years of the second intifada.

They saw "martyrdom" operations as avenging their own losses and Israel's settlement building in the West Bank, wanted by Palestinians as part of their own state.

After the death of Fatah leader Yasser Arafat in 2004, the Palestinian Authority was taken over by Mahmoud Abbas.

He viewed Hamas rocket fire as counter-productive, inflicting relatively little damage on Israel but provoking a harsh response by the Israeli military.

When Hamas scored a landslide victory in 2006, the stage was set for a bitter power-struggle with Fatah.

Hamas resisted all efforts to get it to sign up to previous Palestinian agreements with Israel, as well as to recognise Israel's legitimacy and to renounce violence.

Hamas's charter defines historic Palestine - including present-day Israel - as Islamic land and it rules out any permanent peace with the Jewish state.

The charter also repeatedly makes attacks on Jews as a people, drawing charges that the movement is anti-Semitic.

Hamas has, however, offered a 10-year truce in return for a complete Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied in 1967: the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.

It insists though that millions of Palestinian refugees stemming from the 1948 war must be allowed to return to homes in what became Israel - a move that would threaten Israel's very existence.

Over the years Hamas has lost many members in Israeli assassinations and security sweeps:

Sheikh Yassin was killed in a missile attack in March 2004

Abdul Aziz al-Rantissi emerged as Hamas leader in Gaza before he too was assassinated in April 2004

Other prominent Hamas officials killed by the Israelis include Qassam Brigades leader Salah Shehada in July 2002; Ismail Abu Shanab in August 2003; Said Siyam in January 2009; and Qassam Brigades commander Ahmed Jabari in November 2012

After the death of Sheikh Yassin, Khaled Meshaal became the group's political leader in exile. He was succeeded by Gaza-based Ismail Haniya in May 2017.

Sanctions

Hamas's decision to stand in elections in 2006 was a major departure for the movement.

The new government was subjected to tough economic and diplomatic sanctions by Israel and its allies in the West.

After Hamas ousted Fatah from Gaza in 2007, Israel tightened its blockade on the territory, and rocket-fire and Israeli counter-raids continued.

In December that year, Israel launched Operation Cast Lead - a 22-day offensive aimed, Israel said, at halting rocket attacks from Gaza. More than 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed.

Israel cited the same reason for Pillar of Defence in 2012- which began with an air strike that killed Ahmed Jabari, the Qassam Brigades commander. Some 170 Palestinians - mostly civilians - and six Israelis died in the eight-day conflict.

Palestinian sources say Hamas largely tried to maintain calm after the conflict ended, with the Qassam Brigades not joining in the rocket attacks on Israel.

But Hamas also did not move to halt the rocket fire altogether, apparently because it was concerned that Palestinians would see it as less committed to fighting Israel than rival militant groups, particularly Islamic Jihad.

Rocket fire increased in mid-June 2014 when Israel arrested many Hamas members across the West Bank while searching for three murdered Israeli teenagers.

Then on 7 July, Hamas claimed responsibility for firing rockets at Israel for the first time since 2012, and Hamas and Israel became embroiled in the most intensive fighting for months.

The fighting ended after 50 days with a ceasefire. At least 2,189 Palestinians were killed, including more than 1,486 civilians, according to the UN. On the Israeli side, 67 soldiers were killed along with the six civilians.

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Hamas is the largest of several Palestinian militant Islamist groups. Its name is an Arabic acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement, originating as it did in 1987 after the beginning of the first intifada, or Palestinian uprising, against Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

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Began in 2006 and has continued throughout the past decade. It originated when the Palestinian Hamas began to reject the existence of Israel, then joined forces with another group of Palestinians, called the Fatah. The Fatah did not reject the existence of Israel, which sparked hostilities throughout Gaza.

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Fighting between Israel and Hamas has entered its third week and left much of Gaza City damaged from heavy shelling by the Israel Defense Forces.

Interested in ?

Add as an interest to stay up to date on the latest news, video, and analysis from ABC News.

The conflict broke out on July 8, when Israel launched "Operation Protective Edge" in response to Hamas launching rockets toward Israel.

Since the conflict began, 1,423 Gazans have died and 8,265 have been injured while 59 Israelis have died, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry and IDF, respectively.

What's the Latest?

Israel has been criticized by the United Nations and other world leaders for bombing a U.N.-sponsored school sheltering civilians in Gaza. The United States has condemned the shelling of the school, but added that there were weapons being kept there.

This week, the IDF called up 16,000 additional reservists to join some 65,000 that were already fighting, a sign that the mission could be expanded further. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel will not stop the operation in Gaza until all of the tunnels constructed by Hamas leading from Gaza to Israel have been destroyed.

The U.N. has said a quarter of Gaza's population is displaced, with 225,178 Palestinians in 86 U.N. shelters.

Photos Show Israelis Gathering to Watch Gaza Air Strikes

More Rockets Into Israel After Israeli Raid Into Gaza

Israel Says It Downed Drone as Gaza Death Toll Climbs

What Is Gaza and Who Controls It?

The Gaza Strip is a Detroit-sized area on the border with Egypt up against the Mediterranean Sea that is one of the most densely packed places on Earth with 1.8 million people living in just 139 square miles. Technically part of the Palestinian Authority, it has been governed since 2007 by the militant group Hamas.

Hamas, which rejects the existence of Israel, recently agreed to form a unity government with the other main Palestinian political faction, Fatah. The new Palestinian Unity Government recognizes the state of Israel. But the outbreak of current hostilities pitting Hamas against Israel has left the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority on the sidelines.

What Sparked This Violence?

Tensions were ignited in June when three Israeli teenagers, one with American citizenship and all seminary students, were kidnapped while hitchhiking in the West Bank and killed. They were kidnapped on June 12 and their bodies were discovered June 30. Israel accused Hamas of kidnapping the three teens, which the militant group denied. Within days, Israel arrested more than 300 Palestinians, many of them members of Hamas. At least 10 Palestinians were killed and more than 1,000 private homes were raided.

US Officer Fires Gun in Clash at Pro-Israel Rally

International Pressure Builds For Israeli-Hamas Ceasefire Agreement

On the night the boys' bodies were found, a barrage of rockets were launched from Gaza at Israel and Israeli warplanes carried out numerous air strikes in Gaza.

On July 2, a Palestinian teenager was kidnapped and burned to death in apparent retaliation. The death triggered riots in East Jerusalem, a largely Palestinian area. Three Israelis have been arrested and charged with his death.

The attacks quickly escalated. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have fired rockets with a reach that Israel had not previously seen, with air raid sirens going off as far away as Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa. Many of the missiles have landed in desert areas or been intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system.

Who Are the Key Players?

Hamas controls the Gaza Strip and is considered a terrorist group by Israel and the U.S. But while there is no Israeli military presence inside Gaza anymore, the effective control of Gaza's sea, air and borders is under Israeli control.

The Israeli Defense Forces are the military arm of Israel and are well armed and exceptionally large given Israel's population. Most Israeli residents must go through compulsory military service and are automatically enrolled in the IDF's reserve forces.

Benjamin Netanyahu is the prime minister of Israel. After the Israeli teens were found dead, he said they were victims of "terrorists" and "human animals." When the Palestinian teen was found murdered, he telephoned the boy's father and said the murder was "abhorrent." Three Israelis have been indicted for the murder.

What Is Notable About This Outbreak of Violence?

The current fight comes after almost two years of relative calm between Israel and the Palestinians and just months after the latest round of peace talks collapsed.

The technology being used by both sides is more advanced than in earlier periods of violence. Hamas has publicly claimed responsibility for using a drone, and went on to say that it actually has two types of drones: one to gather intelligence and another to fire munitions. Hamas has been able to reach cities that are much further north in Israel than they ever have before, instilling a new fear for Israeli residents. Israel claims some 5 million people now live within striking distance of Hamas' newest rockets.

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Everything You Need to Know About the Israel-Gaza Conflict

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Fighting between Israel and Hamas has entered its third week and left much of Gaza City damaged from heavy shelling by the Israel Defense Forces. Add as an interest to stay up to date on the latest news, video, and analysis from ABC News.

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Uriel's target audience are people in 1st world countries. This is his target so that he can show them that while they sit at home and watch Netflix, people just like them are getting shot or losing their homes around the globe.

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Most of his pictures feature the color green, whether its a tree, a soldier's uniform, or a pair of crocs. In his Israeli Gaza conflict repertoire, there are suffering people featured in the majority of the pictures.

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israel photographs; war photographs; judaism; jewish; religious photographs

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צילום עיתונות

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צילום עיתונאי

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תמונות דרפור

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תמונות פליטי דרפור

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צילום מקצועי

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
אתיופיה תמונות

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יהדות אתיופיה

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
יהודי אתיופיה

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למען פליטי דרפור

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עולי אתיופיה

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צילום אומנותי

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
צילום פנורמי

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
צילום תמונות

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
תמונות אקטואליה ישראל

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תמונות פוליטיקה

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
תמונות של פליטי דרפור

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תמונות של יהודי אתיופיה

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israel_gaza__2_: Israel Gaza Conflict: PHOTOGRAPHY: Uriel Sinai

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What is he trying to accomplish through his pictures?

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What is he trying to accomplish through his pictures?

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Uriel is trying to spread awareness to the general public of the world and show us that people like us are suffering around the world.

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israel photographs; war photographs; judaism; jewish; religious photographs

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צילום עיתונות

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
צילום עיתונאי

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
תמונות דרפור

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
תמונות פליטי דרפור

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
צילום מקצועי

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
אתיופיה תמונות

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
יהדות אתיופיה

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
יהודי אתיופיה

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
למען פליטי דרפור

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
עולי אתיופיה

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
צילום אומנותי

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
צילום פנורמי

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
צילום תמונות

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
תמונות אקטואליה ישראל

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
תמונות פוליטיקה

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
תמונות של פליטי דרפור

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
תמונות של יהודי אתיופיה

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israel_gaza__6_: Israel Gaza Conflict: PHOTOGRAPHY: Uriel Sinai

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Uriel likes to hang out with his family when he isn't taking pictures of disasters around the world.

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לבבות עם צ׳ופסטיקס, סטארטאפ

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What disasters has he taken pictures of?

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What disasters has he taken pictures of?

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War in Georgia
Kenyan post vote violence
Israeli Gaza conflict
Cyclone in Burma
Haiti Earthquake
Melting of Greenland

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israel photographs; war photographs; judaism; jewish; religious photographs

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
צילום עיתונות

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
צילום עיתונאי

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
תמונות דרפור

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
תמונות פליטי דרפור

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
צילום מקצועי

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
אתיופיה תמונות

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
יהדות אתיופיה

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
יהודי אתיופיה

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
למען פליטי דרפור

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
עולי אתיופיה

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
צילום אומנותי

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
צילום פנורמי

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
צילום תמונות

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
תמונות אקטואליה ישראל

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
תמונות פוליטיקה

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
תמונות של פליטי דרפור

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
תמונות של יהודי אתיופיה

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Uriel Sinai is an Israeli photographer who has taken pictures of many disasters that effect humans. He takes pictures of both natural and man-made disasters.