People across the world welcomed a new year with enthusiasm and hopes that 2024 will come with peace, prosperity and happiness as people have wrapped up 2023 — a year which was defined by wars and climate crises.
The year 2023 has gone by, leaving some bittersweet memories. When it started, the world was still discussing the vast impacts of the Russia-Ukraine war. Little did we know that we would see another war, later in October — the Israel-Hamas war.
On October 7, hundreds of Hamas militants entered Israel, crossing the border from Gaza, killing around 1,140 people, mostly civilians. They took about 250 people as hostages, some of them were returned when the two sides agreed to a week-long truce. During the truce period, Hamas released 105 hostages, mostly women and children, and Israel freed 240 Palestinian prisoners.
The attack by Hamas militants was termed the worst in Israel’s history. The gunmen reportedly raped women, killed babies, showing a horrible side of the war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “destroy” Hamas and launched a campaign of air strikes in Gaza followed by a ground offensive that reduced many regions in the Gaza Strip to rubble.
The war is likely to continue for “many more months” as Gazans have little hope that 2024 will offer much relief. On Sunday, the last day of 2023, those on the Rafah border were more concerned with finding shelter, food, and water than with thinking about the New Year. The border with Egypt has become the main hub for Palestinians fleeing other sections of the enclave.
In the Russia-Ukraine war, Kyiv launched a highly anticipated counteroffensive after amassing billions in powerful Western-made weapons and training new recruits, but the conflict remained a stalemate, but in the fag end of the war, both sides made fresh claims of missiles and drones strikes.
But the year brought rare good news for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in mid-December when EU leaders agreed to open membership talks with Kyiv.
Climate crises
The European Union’s climate monitor predicted 2023 to be the hottest on record. Drought made worse by climate change is cited as one of the factors behind the deadliest wildfire in the United States in a century that claimed at least 115 lives on the Hawaiian island of Maui in August.
Quakes and other news
In the early hours of February 6, one of the deadliest earthquakes in a century flattened entire cities in southeast Turkey, killing more than 50,000 people, with nearly 6,000 others killed across the border in Syria.
On September 8, an earthquake struck Morocco’s Marrakesh–Safi region, killing nearly 3,000 people. The earthquake’s epicentre was located 73.4 km southwest of Marrakesh, near the town of Ighil and the Oukaïmeden ski resort in the Atlas.
Watch: New Year 2024: Australia, New Zealand welcome 2024 with fireworks, celebrations
What did the leaders say?
Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed his soldiers as heroes but mostly emphasised unity and shared determination as he made only passing reference in his New Year address about the war in Ukraine.
While speaking in a televised speech to mark the New Year, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said that the country will consolidate and enhance the positive trend of its economic recovery in 2024, and sustain long-term economic development with deeper reforms. He also said that China would “surely be reunified”.
North Korea vowed to launch three new spy satellites, build military drones, and boost its nuclear arsenal in 2024 as leader Kim Jong Un said US policy is making war inevitable, state media reported on Sunday.
French President Emmanuel Macron said in a televised address ahead of New Year celebrations that 2024 would be “the year of our French pride” marked by the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games and the re-opening of Notre Dame cathedral after a devastating fire.
So far, the trends suggest more months of wars, and discussions about nuclear weapons will dominate the coming year. But what will exactly happen, only time will tell.
(With inputs from agencies)
