Iranian artists’ works on Operation al-Aqsa Storm on show in Lebanon

TEHRAN-An exhibition of posters and illustrations by Iranian artists on the subject of Operation al-Aqsa Storm is underway in Borj el-Brajneh Camp in Beirut, Lebanon.

Titled “Art Storm,” the exhibition has been organized by the cultural attaché office of the Iran Embassy in Beirut, Mehr reported.

A total of 50 works, selected from among 700 posters and illustrations, are on display at the exhibit in Beirut. Afterward, they will go on show in Sidon.

Along with the exhibition, a five-day training course and workshop to empower graphic and media design was held for Palestinian students living in the camps north and south of Beirut, as well as Lebanese students.

Hamas launched Operation al-Aqsa Storm into the occupied territories on October 7, 2023, in response to intensified crimes by Israeli forces and settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. In response, the Zionist regime waged an all-out war on Gaza, killing more than 37,000 people, about half of them children, and wounding tens of thousands in the tightly besieged enclave.

Hamas said its attack was in response to continued Israeli blockade of Gaza and expansion of settlement in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Palestinians see the Israeli settlements – which are considered illegal under international law – to be the biggest hurdle in the realization of their future state.

Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza for nearly six months has destroyed approximately 62 percent of all homes in Gaza, equivalent to 290,820 housing units, and more than a million people are without homes. Housing accounts for 72 percent of the total damage costs, at an estimated value of $13.3 billion.

Public service infrastructure, such as water, health, and education, account for 19 percent, while commercial and industrial buildings make up 9 percent.

The energy, water, and municipal sectors have suffered nearly $800m in damages and the water and sanitation system has been significantly reduced, delivering less than 5 percent of its previous output.

With 84 percent of health facilities damaged or destroyed, and a lack of electricity and water to operate the remaining ones, the population has minimal access to healthcare.

The education system has collapsed, with all of Gaza’s 625,000 students out of school. Damage to education infrastructure amounts to $341m as an estimated 56 school facilities have been destroyed and 219 partially damaged.

Additionally, 26 million tons of debris and rubble have been left in the wake of the destruction, an amount that is estimated to take years to remove.

The offensive has wreaked more destruction than the razing of Syria’s Aleppo between 2012 and 2016, Ukraine’s Mariupol, or, proportionally, the Allied bombing of Germany in World War II. It has killed more civilians than the United States-led coalition did in its three-year campaign against the ISIS group.

SS/