Six months into ‘ceasefire’, Gaza suffers under persistent Israeli attacks
Gaza’s devastation grows as more than 72,000 people killed and 172,000 injured amid Israeli violations of US-brokered truce.
A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches across the Gaza City seafront, on March 25
Six months after a ceasefire agreement was signed on October 10, 2025, the reality on the ground in the Gaza Strip remains fragile, oscillating between relative calm and recurring escalation, with no tangible improvement in humanitarian or security conditions for Palestinian civilians.
At its core, the agreement stipulated an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire, including the cessation of all ground and air military operations, alongside a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from within the Strip – particularly from populated areas – in order to reduce direct contact with civilians.
It also included expanded humanitarian arrangements, most notably the regular opening of border crossings like the Rafah crossing; enabling greater freedom of movement for individuals; and the improved entry of aid, including hundreds of daily trucks carrying food, medicine and fuel, with guarantees that assistance would reach all areas of the Strip without obstruction.
In parallel, the agreement outlined a reconstruction framework under international supervision aimed at rehabilitating destroyed infrastructure and housing, as well as phased prisoner and detainee exchanges, and the establishment of an international monitoring mechanism to oversee this implementation.
However, six months later, field data and reports from international organisations show that these commitments have not been fulfilled as promised.
No full ceasefire has been achieved, no comprehensive withdrawal has taken place (rather the opposite), aid has remained below agreed-upon levels, and border crossings have continued to operate intermittently under shifting security and political conditions.
Amid this fluctuating agreement, people in Gaza remain trapped in instability, amid ongoing Israeli violations and daily volatility across all aspects of life. This has turned the ceasefire from a stable framework for ending the war into a partial, temporary truce used to manage rather than resolve the crisis.
Smoke and flames rise following an Israeli strike near a tent camp sheltering displaced Palestinians in Deir el-Balah, the central Gaza Strip, on March 25
At least 700 killed during ‘ceasefire’
During the months that the agreement has been in place, the Israeli army has continued its attacks, raising questions about the fragility of the ceasefire and the role of mediators in enforcing its terms.
Gaza’s Government Media Office has documented more than 2,073 violations between October 2025 and March 2026, including Israeli air strikes, gunfire and incursions.
In the first weeks of the truce alone, about 497 violations were recorded, resulting in 342 Palestinian deaths, while by December, the toll had reached 379 killed and 992 injured, according to Ministry of Health data.
Humanitarian needs: High cost, low supply
The period following the October ceasefire has seen a relative improvement in the entry of food aid into Gaza, but this has been limited, fragile, and insufficient to meet accumulated humanitarian needs.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the agreement called for the entry of about 600 aid trucks per day; however, actual deliveries remained significantly below this threshold in the early weeks and have continually fluctuated since.
Despite some food deliveries, due to inconsistent truck flow and distribution challenges in recent months, quantities still remain below minimum requirements, leading to continued shortages and sharp price increases.
The UN has repeatedly called for unhindered aid access, warning that restrictions on crossings and distribution systems impede access for the most vulnerable people.
