Report: Earthquakes, Hurricanes, and Conflicts Shaped the Middle East in 2023
Shafaq News/ Amidst a backdrop of earthquakes, hurricanes, and conflicts in the Arab World, many individuals in the Middle East endured and continue to face challenging circumstances throughout 2023.
As the region looks towards 2024, the outlook remains uncertain, lacking a clear vision for resolution.
Sky News considered in its report that those most affected by these disasters and wars are Syria, Morocco, Libya, Sudan, and Palestine.
Earthquakes and hurricanes
The report presented the earthquakes and hurricanes that struck the regional countries.
On February 6, Syria and Turkey were struck by a 7.4 earthquake, killing about 6,000 people in Syria.
On September 8, Morocco was shaken by a massive earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0, killing 2,680 people and wounding 25,621.
Two days after the earthquake in Morocco, Hurricane Daniel struck eastern Libya on September 10, sweeping thousands of people with the heavy flood waters in the cities of Derna and Al-Bayda, ending with the deaths of more than 3,800 people and the injury of more than 3,800 people, and 10,000 missing.
Wars
As for wars, the Sky News report referred to the military conflict in Sudan that broke out on April 15 between the army forces and the Rapid Support, which has so far resulted in the deaths of 12 thousand people and the displacement of six million inside and outside the country, and material losses amounting to 60 billion dollars.
The fighting caused massive damage to infrastructure and public facilities and the widespread spread of epidemics, such as malaria.
On October 7, Israel was subjected to the most significant ground attack in its history, carried out by the Hamas movement under the “Al-Aqsa Flood,” targeting settlements near the Gaza Strip, killing 1,200, most of them Israelis, in addition to some foreigners, to force Tel Aviv to stop its attacks on the Palestinians and Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Israel responded to the attack with Operation Iron Swords, which turned into a brutal war on the Gaza Strip, targeting the entire population of the Strip and its infrastructure, including hospitals and schools, with advanced weapons and 20,000 tons of explosives.
The victims of the Israeli war have so far reached 18,000 Palestinian dead and 47,000 injured.
