Almost one year since the start of the Israel-Gaza conflict, the Palestinian coastal enclave is still in ruins. Some 18,000 homes were destroyed and more than 40,000 buildings damaged by Israeli shelling and air strikes between 8 July and 26 August 2014.
Getty Images photographer Christopher Furlong visited Gaza, where many families are living in unsafe, bomb-damaged homes.
An elderly woman walks past the remains of bombed buildingsChristopher Furlong/Getty ImagesFamilies still live amongst the rubble of bombed buildings in GazaChristopher Furlong/Getty ImagesPlastic sheeting provides some privacy for a family still living in their bombed homeChristopher Furlong/Getty ImagesThis family still lives in their bombed home in Gaza CityChristopher Furlong/Getty ImagesA boy breaks concrete with a sledgehammer so that the cement and steel from bombed buildings can be recycled, supplementing his family's incomeChristopher Furlong/Getty ImagesA family still living in their bombed home in the village of Khuza'a plead for international helpChristopher Furlong/Getty ImagesA Palestinian boy plays outside bombed buildings in Gaza CityChristopher Furlong/Getty Images
Residents are angry that pledges for funding to reconstruct buildings devastated during the war have not been honoured. Reconciliation efforts between Hamas and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority led by President Mahmoud Abbas have faltered, hampering foreign aid donations and the import of building materials.
The air strikes left the infrastructure in Gaza in tatters. Its only power plant was targeted and now regularly stops running due to fuel shortages. Residents receive a few hours of electricity every day, and many have no running water.
A man washes his face from a tanker as water shortages continue to cripple GazaChristopher Furlong/Getty ImagesAs the evening power cuts begin young children light a fire near Gaza beachChristopher Furlong/Getty ImagesPalestinians have to cope with constant power cuts, and can clearly see the Ashkelon power station across the border in IsraelChristopher Furlong/Getty Images
A new poll shows that half of the people living in the impoverished and isolated Gaza Strip want to emigrate.
The poll by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research shows that among young people it is even higher, about 80 percent.
Graffiti reading "I love Gaza" adorns a mound of rubble from bombed buildingsChristopher Furlong/Getty ImagesGraffiti referencing Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam on the Sistine Chapel's ceiling is seen in the rubble of destroyed buildingsChristopher Furlong/Getty ImagesA Palestinian woman walks past graffiti by British artist Banksy in Gaza CityChristopher Furlong/Getty ImagesA kitten painted by British graffiti artist Banksy is protected by fencingChristopher Furlong/Getty Images
Palestinian banks have stopped accepting money transfers sent from abroad to charitable and Islamic associations in Gaza. Although they haven't provided reasons, it is thought they are afraid of the US imposing sanctions if they were found to be providing financial support to Hamas.
Palestinian women protest outside the Bank of Palestine in Gaza CityChristopher Furlong/Getty ImagesA bead of sweat runs down the cheek of a Palestinian boy wearing a hangman's noose in a symbolic protest against the Bank of Palestine's decision to stop accepting money transfers sent from abroad to charitable and Islamic associations in Gaza.Christopher Furlong/Getty ImagesA family's container home sits among the rubble in the village of Khuza'aChristopher Furlong/Getty ImagesPalestinian children travel on a donkey cart past some of the destroyed buildings that continue to scar the landscape of GazaChristopher Furlong/Getty Images
Israel maintains a partial blockade on the territory and Egypt largely keeps the Rafah border crossing closed to prevent Hamas getting more arms.
More than 2,100 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed in the conflict. Some 540 of them were children, 371 of them 12 years old or younger. Israel suffered the loss of 67 soldiers and six civilians.
