Gaza hasn't found peace six months after the ceasefire. Violence, patchy aid and collapsed services keep millions trapped.

What the ceasefire promised

The truce signed on 10 October 2025 was meant to end a war that lasted roughly two years and left Gaza devastated. The deal set out a full halt to ground and air operations, a phased Israeli withdrawal from populated areas, regular openings of crossings including Rafah, daily humanitarian convoys and an internationally supervised reconstruction plan. It also envisaged phased prisoner exchanges and an international monitoring mechanism to check implementation.

The agreement looked like a clear plan to move from war to recovery. Hundreds of trucks a day carrying food, medicine and fuel were supposed to reach Gaza. Borders were to open for people and goods. International donors and mediators framed it as the route to stabilise daily life for more than two million people still displaced inside the Strip.

Promises on paper, reality on the ground

Those commitments haven't been fully met. Field reports from humanitarian organisations and Gaza authorities show frequent interruptions to aid flows and only partial withdrawals by Israeli forces. Gaza’s Government Media Office recorded more than 2,073 alleged violations between October 2025 and March 2026, including air strikes, gunfire and incursions. That count underlines how fragile the truce has been.

In the early weeks of the agreement, around 497 violations were logged and, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health figures quoted by local authorities, 342 people were killed. By December the ministry reported 379 deaths and 992 injured.

Other tallies cited in international briefings put the death toll during the six-month period at several hundred, and ActionAid said "hundreds have been killed" while more than 2 million people remain displaced.

In reality, the ceasefire has often felt more like a pause than a real end to the conflict. Aid deliveries happen, but not at the scale promised; crossings open, but unpredictably; and reconstruction arrangements haven't advanced as planned. Every day, life remains risky and limited, shaped by political changes that ordinary Gazans can't influence.

Daily life: tents, queues and fear

Conditions for civilians remain harsh. Shelter, water, health services and education are all strained. ActionAid’s Jamil Sawalmeh, country director at ActionAid Palestine, said the ceasefire "was never a real ceasefire" and described continuing bombardment alongside shortages of food, shelter and medicine. He said rebuilding is impossible while Israeli forces still control more than half the territory and continue demolitions of homes and infrastructure.

Mastheads

Nisreen Jouda, a psychotherapist at Wefaq Association for Women and Child Care, spoke from Gaza about the psychological toll. "The way I see it, the ceasefire only exists in the media," she said, adding that people still hear shooting and gunfire daily and often fear leaving home. She described children queuing for food rather than school snacks and families living in overcrowded tents, waiting at charity kitchens and for water.

These daily struggles add up to bigger, long-term issues. Schools and clinics damaged in the fighting remain understaffed or closed. Health services cope with routine injuries and chronic conditions without steady supplies of medicines and fuel. Reconstruction of housing and essential infrastructure has barely started in many areas, because security, access and political arrangements are still unresolved.

Why the truce is fragile

Several factors have caused the agreement to fall short. The deal relied on international guarantees and monitoring to enforce withdrawals and humanitarian access. Yet the proposed international monitoring mechanism has struggled to operate with full authority. Political tensions among mediators and the parties to the conflict have repeatedly affected access and the opening of crossings.

Security incidents, whether local flare-ups or targeted operations, have repeatedly tested the ceasefire’s limits. According to the local official tallies cited above, violence didn't vanish with the signature of the agreement. While neither side describes the truce as a formal end to the broader political dispute, negotiators had at least aimed to create breathing space to allow aid and rebuilding to begin. That space has been narrow and highly conditional.

Regional and international implications

The partial nature of the truce complicates diplomacy and aid planning. International donors agreed to back a reconstruction framework, but funders and implementing agencies are wary of committing large sums where access and security remain uncertain. ActionAid’s Jamil Sawalmeh called on third states to take firmer action to compel changes in Israel’s approach; he argued that without pressure, violations and restrictions will continue to block relief and rebuilding.

Countries involved in mediation now face a credibility test. If promised international oversight and reconstruction don't materialise, public pressure in those countries may mount. That could reshape diplomatic priorities in capitals that have invested time and political capital in the ceasefire. Meanwhile, the ongoing humanitarian crisis is pushing for more accountability and ways to get aid everywhere in Gaza without blockages.

Economic fallout and reconstruction hurdles

Rebuilding Gaza will be costly. The compact signed last year set out an internationally supervised reconstruction plan, but with much of the territory under restricted access and with ongoing demolitions reported, the prerequisites for large-scale rebuilding are weak. Critical infrastructure — power, water, hospitals, roads — was heavily damaged in the fighting and needs both financing and secure access for engineers and equipment.

Donors will likely demand clearer guarantees that aid can flow and that reconstruction projects can be protected. Private contractors and suppliers will also need assurances before sending materials and personnel. That uncertainty raises the risk that money pledged on paper will take a long time to translate into bricks, services and jobs on the ground.

The economic squeeze isn't confined to reconstruction costs. Displaced families are living on reduced incomes and limited access to markets. Local businesses struggle with damaged premises, fuel shortages and intermittent supplies. The cumulative effect is a weakened economic base that will make recovery slower and more expensive.

Humanitarian appeals and the road ahead

Aid agencies maintain an active presence but warn that their reach is limited by security and access constraints. The ceasefire’s promise of "hundreds" of aid trucks daily hasn't been met consistently, and that shortfall is felt in hospitals, shelters and soup kitchens. Humanitarian groups say that without steady supplies of food, medicine and fuel, clinics and basic services will keep running on a hand-to-mouth basis.

ActionAid and its partners argue that what Gaza needs now is a stronger, enforceable pause — one that ends demolitions and allows large-scale, sustained rebuilding and movement. Jamil Sawalmeh put it bluntly: "It's time for third states around the world to take real action to compel the Israeli authorities to change course." Whether that political will materialises is an open question; what's clear is that the current arrangement hasn't delivered the stability residents were promised.

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Nisreen Jouda, psychotherapist at Wefaq Association for Women and Child Care, said: "I honestly feel afraid going to work these days. Even more than when the ceasefire was not in effect."

This article was created with AI assistance.