AP PHOTOS: Soldiers mobilize, mourners bury the dead as battles rage in Israeli-Palestinian war
Buildings turned to rubble. Body bags in the streets. Wailing sirens and shrieking rockets.
As generations of Israeli-Palestinian conflict bubbled into a fourth day of war Tuesday, there were scenes of both an expanding offensive and the conflict’s sorrowful results.
Soldiers on both sides of the battle geared up and moved into position, and the impact of weekend strikes became clearer. Flag-draped coffins were carried by mourners as funeral processions snaked through the region. Scenes of devastation, from windows shattered by bullets to neighborhoods leveled by blasts, grew along with the death toll.
A Palestinian girl cries during the funeral of Amir Ganan, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the buildings in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Oct. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali)
The war brought a relentless string of developments: Of hostages being taken. Of children slain. Of gunbattles breaking out. Of borders clamping shut.
The battle’s opening days brought more than 1,800 deaths on both sides. As fear grew of what might come next, one thing seemed clear: That number will grow.
Palestinians inspect the damage of destroyed building after Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Oct. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali)
Damaged cars are scattered in the area of the rave party site near the Kibbutz Re’im, Israel, close to the border with the Gaza Strip, on Oct.10, 2023. Israel’s rescue service Zaka said paramedics had recovered hundreds of bodies of people killed in a surprise attack by Hamas militants Saturday. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Palestinians, including some journalists, carry the bodies of two Palestinian reporters, Mohammed Soboh and Said al-Tawil, who were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. The militant Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel Saturday, killing over 1,000 people and taking captives. Israel launched heavy retaliatory airstrikes on the enclave, killing hundreds of Palestinians. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
Israeli soldiers carry the flag-covered coffin of Maj. Tal Cohen during his funeral at the Givat Shaul cemetery in Jerusalem on Oct. 10, 2023. The latest Israel-Palestinian war reverberated around the world Tuesday, as foreign governments tried to determine how many of their citizens were dead, missing or in need of medical help or flights home. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Palestinians walk amid the rubble following Israeli airstrikes that razed swaths of a neighborhood in Gaza City on Oct. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
Relatives pray by the body of Amir Ganan, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike, during his funeral in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali)
Israelis take cover in a shelter as a siren sounds a warning of incoming rockets fired from the Gaza strip, in Ashkelon, Israel, on Oct. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Palestinians walk amid the rubble following Israeli airstrikes that razed swaths of a neighborhood in Gaza City on Oct. 10, 2023. The militant Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel Saturday, killing over 1,000 people and taking captives. Israel launched heavy retaliatory airstrikes on the enclave, killing hundreds of Palestinians. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
Israeli soldiers take positions outside Kibbutz Kfar Azza, Israel, near the border with the Gaza Strip on Oct. 10, 2023. Hamas militants overran Kfar Azza on Saturday, where many Israelis were killed and taken captive. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
The body of a Hamas militant lies on the ground in kibbutz Kfar Azza on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. Hamas militants overran Kfar Azza on Saturday, where many Israelis were killed and taken captive. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Israeli soldiers deploy in kibbutz Kfar Azza on Oct. 10, 2023. Hamas militants overran Kfar Azza on Saturday, where many Israelis were killed and taken captive. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
A window pierced by bullets is seen from inside a house in kibbutz Kfar Azza on Oct. 10, 2023. Hamas militants overran Kfar Azza on Saturday, where many Israelis were killed and taken captive. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Israeli soldiers carry the body of a person killed in the Hamas attack on kibbutz Kfar Azza on Oct. 10, 2023. Hamas militants overran the kibbutz on Saturday, where many Israelis were killed and taken captive. (AP Photo/Erik Marmor)
The body of a Hamas militant lies in kibbutz Kfar Azza on Oct. 10, 2023, three days after Hamas militants overran the kibbutz, killing and kidnapping a number of Israelis. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
A neighborhood in Gaza City lies in rubble on Oct. 10, 2023, after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike. Israel launched intense airstrikes in Gaza after the territory’s militant rulers carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel Saturday, killing over 1,000 people and taking captives. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in the airstrikes. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
Israeli soldiers stand near the bodies of Israelis killed by Hamas militants in kibbutz Kfar Azza, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. Hamas militants overran the community on Saturday, where many Israelis were killed and taken captive. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Mourners weep during the funeral of Israeli soldier Benjamin Loeb, a dual Israeli-French citizen, in Jerusalem, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. Loeb was killed on Saturday as the militant Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip carried out an unprecedented, multi-front attack on Israel. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
The wife, left, and sister of Hezbollah fighter Ali Ftouni, who was killed by Israeli shelling, mourn at his funeral procession in Kherbet Selem village, south Lebanon, on Oct. 10, 2023. The Iran-backed group announced Monday night that three militants died following heavy Israeli shelling in border towns across southern Lebanon. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A Hezbollah fighter carries the coffin of his comrade who was killed by Israeli shelling, as he shouts slogans during his funeral procession in Kherbet Selem village, south Lebanon, on Oct. 10, 2023. The Iran-backed group announced on Monday night that three militants died following heavy Israeli shelling in border towns across southern Lebanon. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Mourners gather as the body of Israeli soldier Benjamin Loeb, a dual Israeli-French citizen is lowered into a grave in Jerusalem, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. Loeb was killed on Saturday as the militant Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip carried out an unprecedented, multi-front attack on Israel. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
An Israeli firefighter kneels to compose himself after he and his colleagues extinguished cars set on fire by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip in Ashkelon, Israel, Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Hezbollah fighters attend the funeral procession of their two comrades who were killed by Israeli shelling, in Kherbet Selem village, south Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. The Iran-backed group announced on Monday night that three militants died following heavy Israeli shelling in border towns across southern Lebanon. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)