‘Turkey quake to Gaza conflict’: Reviewing 2024, a year of unrelenting tragedies | World News

From the devastating earthquake in Turkey at the beginning of the year to the recent Syrian revolt, from the escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza to Spanish floods and California wildfires, the year witnessed all things deadly.

Top global conflicts in 2024

Israel-Hamas war

On October 7, 2023, the terrorist group Hamas launched a military assault on Israel killing more than 1,000 people and triggering massive retaliation from Israel against Hamas leading to a major conflict in the Gaza Strip.

As the war continued, Israel’s counteroffensive extended from Hamas to other agents as several terrorist groups joined forces against Tel Aviv. Israel raged an all-out war against Houthi rebels in Yemen and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon as they exchanged fire with Israel at the border.

While a ceasefire agreement scored in November cooled the regional tensions, the recent Syrian rebels against the Iran-backed Assad government leading to his ousters, triggered a fresh spark of violence.

Sudan crisis

In April, tensions between the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) raged into a full-range war and the conflict since then has claimed thousands of lives since then.

Syria revolt

A sudden offensive by rebel forces reignited tensions around the 14-year civil war in Syria as the armed rebels clashed with Syrian armed forces leading to the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad.

The New York Times report puts the death toll estimates from war at a staggering 620,000.

Syria’s new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa already taken control of his war-torn country and told Al Arabiya TV on Sunday that elections can take four years.

Moscow concert attack

Over 140 people lost their lives when terrorists stormed the Crocus City Hall, where a music concert was to be held on March 22 this year and attacked the building in one of the deadliest assaults witnessed in Russia in nearly two decades.

According to the head of the FSB security service, Alexander Bortnikov, Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) planned and funded the attack, with allegations being further made against Ukrainian involvement in the attack.

In the meantime, IS-K said it was responsible for the massacre and claimed this was the deadliest it had conducted on European soil.

China hit-and-run incident

At least 35 people were killed and another 43 injured after a 62-year-old driver rammed his car into people exercising at a sports centre in southern China’s Zhuhai city in November, AP reported.

According to police officials, the driver was detained. It is not clear whether it was an attack or an accident.

Gaza hospital attack

Israel army raided the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahia area early on Friday with the World Health Organization (WHO) saying it left the area’s last major health facility emptied of patients and staff.

While Israel’s military said the forces had killed approximately 20 Palestinian militants in the raid, calling it one of its “largest operations” conducted in the territory, the WHO called for an end to attacks on hospitals in Gaza.

Natural disasters in 2024

Turkey earthquake

A massive earthquake rocked southeastern Turkey and northwestern Syria in February 2024 causing more than 50,000 deaths and thousands injured.

The 7.8-magnitude tremor caused massive destruction in cities like Gaziantep, Aleppo, and Idlib areas.

Hurricane Helene

Helene, a Category 4 hurricane that hit the United States, Cuba, and Mexico in September of this year, was one of the other devastating happenings of 2024.

Hurricane Helene took 232 lives according to the report. The amount of damage is recorded at $55 billion.

Chile Wildfires

2024 also witnessed the deadliest forest fires in Chilean history in early February. According to the Chilean government, at least 136 died in the disaster. Damage was particularly bad in Chile’s Valparaíso region, including the coastal city of Viña del Mar.

Typhoon Yagi

Another calamity that the world felt this year is Typhoon Yagi, one of the strongest tropical cyclones Asia has witnessed so far and the second most powerful storm in the world this year 2024 next to Hurricane Beryl.

While Typhoon Yagi has been impacting several countries like the Philippines, China, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand, Vietnam suffered the worst part. The death toll was over 600 people from Asia due to Typhoon Yagi.

Spanish floods

In late October 2024, Spain experienced one of its deadliest floods in decades with its poor disaster management worsening the situation leading to exponential loss of life and property.

The Valencia region and nearby areas were the worst affected and over 200 lives were lost in the disaster. Thousands were displaced, and the destruction of infrastructure and livelihoods was extensive.