Palestinians in Khan Younis say the past two years of war in the Gaza Strip have felt much longer because of the conditions they have endured, sharing hopes for an end to the fighting.

Tuesday marks two years since Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel, plunging the region into war.

"Our families have died, our homes are gone. We pray to God that this war will end as soon as possible," said Sanaa Adwan, a displaced woman.

Around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the October 7 2023 attack and 251 others were abducted. Forty-eight remain in Gaza, around 20 of them believed by Israel to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals.

Israelis prepared to mourn their dead on Tuesday as indirect talks are taking place between Israel and Hamas in Egypt.

The war has already killed over 67,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, which does not say how many were civilians or combatants.

It says women and children make up around half the dead, and many independent experts say its figures are the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.

Gaza resident Dr. Maha Shbeir said she didn't know how she would recover from the scenes she had seen during the war, adding that her patients had included people with head injuries and burns.

"They were not two normal years at all, they were (akin to) 20 years, 20 years of tragedies, suffering, displacement, homelessness, with the famine that we've lived through and the lack of stability," she added.

Israel's offensive has displaced around 90% of Gaza's population of some 2 million, often multiple times, and restrictions on humanitarian aid have contributed to a severe hunger crisis, with experts saying Gaza City is experiencing famine.

People returning to their homes have often found entire neighborhoods blasted to rubble.

"Two years of war have meant the end of our future, our homes, our families," said Dr. Haytham Ahmed, treating a patient in an emergency room, noting the exhaustion he felt and severe lack of medical resources around him.

Journalist Ahmed al-Agha was visiting hospital on Monday for treatment of an injury that he described as critical.

He lamented the loss of fellow journalists killed covering the deadliest war for journalists in recent memory.

Experts and major rights groups have accused Israel of genocide, and the International Criminal Court is seeking the arrest of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister for using starvation as a method of war.

Israel vehemently denies the allegations, saying it is waging a lawful war of self-defense and taking extraordinary measures to avoid harming civilians. It blames Hamas for the death and destruction in Gaza because the militants are deeply embedded in populated areas.

Hamas portrayed the Oct. 7 attack as a response to decades of Israeli land seizures, settlement construction and military occupation.

But the attack has exacted a catastrophic toll on the Palestinians, whose dream of an independent state appears more distant than ever.