2023 has been an eventful year, full of changes, challenges and crises. In this festive period, CGTN visited Ukraine, Gaza, Israel and other areas beset by fighting to show how people spent the New Year amid conflict.

Mahmoud Sukkar, a father who lives in Gaza, believes it will be the end of a year full of pain. Two of his sons were injured at Al-Awda Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip. In the new year, he wants to return to his home and hopes people learn to love each other. Sukkar says his only wish is to be with his family.