GAZA, (PIC)
After about seven months have passed since the declaration of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the hopes that residents pinned on this stage as a gateway to recovery are dissipating, turning into a reality that consolidates humanitarian suffering and deepens living crises instead of containing them.
The new reality has not reflected any development in the lives of civilians, who still face harsh conditions topped by food and water crises and electricity outages, making the details of daily life a battle in its own right.
Deteriorating humanitarian conditions
On the ground, humanitarian deterioration continues at an alarming pace, as thousands of families live in harsh displacement conditions or without shelter, in light of a severe shortage of basic services.
Overcrowded shelter centers are turning into environments lacking the minimum requirements for life, with the suffering of the most vulnerable groups increasing, especially children and the elderly.
In the health sector, hospitals and medical centers operate with very limited capabilities, amidst a severe shortage of medicines and supplies, which puts the health system on the edge of collapse, especially with the increasing numbers of patients and the injured.
Danger of paralysis of vital services
In this context, the spokesman for the Civil Defense in Gaza, Major Mahmoud Bassal, warned of a near-complete halt of humanitarian and relief services, as a result of the continued prevention of the entry of fuel, oils, and spare parts necessary to operate vehicles and machinery.
Bassal explained in a press statement that the crisis is not limited to the Civil Defense apparatus, but extends to various vital sectors, including hospitals that rely on electric generators in light of the power outage, noting that these generators are threatened with stopping due to the lack of oils and maintenance.
He added that the lack of spare parts has already led to a number of Civil Defense vehicles going out of service, which reduced the operational capacity to about 10% only, at a time when some areas have become out of service range, leaving residents without sufficient response in emergency cases.
Continuous violations of the truce
In parallel, the Government Media Office (GMO) in Gaza revealed the recording of more than 2,400 violations of the ceasefire agreement during the past six months, distributed between gunfire, ground incursions, and shelling and blowing up operations inside civilian areas.
According to the statement, these violations resulted in the rise of 824 Palestinian martyrs, including dozens of children, women, and the elderly, in addition to the injury of about 2,316 others, while civilians constituted about 99% of the total victims.
Also, 50 Palestinians were arrested during the same period, as most of these operations took place inside residential neighborhoods, and away from troop deployment areas, which indicates direct violations of the terms of the agreement.
Gap between pledges and implementation
On the humanitarian level, data shows a large gap between what the truce agreement stipulated and what was actually implemented, especially regarding the entry of aid and fuel.
During six months, about 41,714 trucks only entered the Strip out of 110,400 trucks that were supposed to be brought in, with a daily average of 227 trucks, compared to 600 trucks daily stipulated in the agreement, along with 50 fuel trucks.
Specialists see that these figures reflect a clear deficiency in the implementation of obligations, in light of the continued restrictions imposed on the movement of goods and individuals, which exacerbates the deterioration of economic conditions and deepens unemployment and poverty rates.
Truce without a horizon
In conclusion, the truce in the Gaza Strip seems closer to a state of “freezing the crisis” instead of solving it, as humanitarian deterioration continues amidst the absence of a clear political horizon or effective international action that guarantees the implementation of the terms of the agreement, especially in its humanitarian part.
Israel evades its obligations
For his part, political analyst Hilal Nassar sees that the truce in the Gaza Strip, which was supposed to end the war and stop the fire, did not achieve its goals, but rather witnessed repeated Israeli violations that resulted in the fall of hundreds of martyrs since the Sharm el-Sheikh agreement.
He indicates in a talk to the PIC reporter that the truce came after a destructive war that lasted more than two years, leaving behind huge human losses and widespread destruction in the infrastructure, and exacerbating economic and health crises.
He explains that the agreement included three stages, starting with the release of prisoners, a partial withdrawal of forces, and the enhancement of aid, provided that it ends with a permanent ceasefire and reconstruction, however, the field reality did not commit to these arrangements.
Nassar confirms that the truce did not alleviate the suffering of the residents, but rather increased its complexity with the continuation of shelling and the lack of medicines, considering that it gave Israel an opportunity to expand its control and consolidate its violations. He also pointed out that the absence of stability led to the exacerbation of social conditions, with the increasing numbers of orphans and widows, and the widening of the gap within the Gazan society.
Familiar pattern of double standards
In the context, the writer and political analyst Mohammad Shahin said that Israel’s lack of commitment to the truce in the Gaza Strip represents a familiar pattern of double standards that governs the behavior of dominant powers towards the Palestinian cause.
Shahin added in a statement to our reporter that since the start of the ceasefire agreement on October 10, 2025, the GMO recorded more than 2,400 Israeli violations until mid-April 2026.
He explained that these violations included direct fire on civilians, airstrikes, artillery shelling, and ground incursions, in addition to the destruction of homes and property.
Shahin pointed to the statements of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, in which he confirmed that Palestinians in Gaza still remain unsafe six months after the declaration of the truce, in light of the continuation of daily attacks by raids, bullets, and shelling, which is difficult to reconcile with the concept of a ceasefire.
He stressed that this behavior cannot be considered mere accidental violations, but rather represents a systematic violation of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit targeting civilians and non-military facilities, and oblige the occupation power to protect the population under its control.
Shahin pointed out that there is a deep contradiction between the discourse that promotes peace, and the actual practice that reproduces control and oppression through continuous institutional violence. He added that the ceasefire turns, in this case, into a “no war, no peace” situation, which allows the occupation to maintain its control over wide parts of the land, while restricting the flow of aid and imposing harsh living conditions that hinder any real reconstruction process.
He stressed that this pattern reflects a colonial vision that deals with the Palestinian people as an existential threat that should be confronted with force rather than recognizing their rights.
Regarding the international role, Shahin said that the United States, as a main mediator in the agreement, bears a special responsibility in ensuring a fair implementation of its terms, however, the unconditional political and military support for Israel undermines the credibility of the international system, and turns the law into a selective tool used to serve interests not principles.
Shahin concluded by saying that the fundamental question remains: is it possible to build a sustainable peace on a base of structural inequality and systematic violence? Or does any real solution require recognizing the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, and ending the occupation and the policies that turn the truce into a cover for the continuation of control?
He stressed that the facts on the ground clearly indicate that these continuous violations make the truce merely a transitional stage used to perpetuate the reality of occupation and its aggression against the Gaza Strip, in the absence of real accountability.
