More than 1,000 people in Gaza have been killed since a US-brokered “ceasefire” between Hamas and Israel was agreed in October, and the humanitarian situation in the besieged enclave remains catastrophic.
Israeli attacks across Gaza have killed 1,005 Palestinians since the agreement was reached, the Palestinian Health Ministry announced on Wednesday.
“We mourn as Gaza reaches yet another tragic milestone,” said Fikr Shalltoot, Gaza director at Medical Aid for Palestinians. “Thousands more people who were told the worst was over are still burying their loved ones.”
While the ceasefire stopped large-scale combat operations, no agreement has been reached to implement the second and more sensitive phase of the deal, which requires the withdrawal of Israeli soldiers from Gaza and the disarmament of Hamas. Since October, Israel has further entrenched its presence in the Palestinian territory and now controls 64 percent of the Gaza Strip, up from the 53 percent originally envisioned under the deal.
Last Friday, dozens of families in eastern Gaza City were forced to flee after Israeli forces placed yellow cement blocks signaling a further expansion of the so-called “Yellow Line” to the west, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Hamas political bureau member Husam Badran stated earlier this month that the group would not hand over its weapons yet, asserting that the fate of its military arsenal would be decided only after comprehensive discussions with other Palestinian factions.
The ceasefire framework was also intended to provide an opportunity to begin reconstructing Gaza and its collapsed healthcare system. However, according to OCHA, only 20 of Gaza’s 37 hospitals remain partially functional, with not a single fully functioning hospital left in the enclave.
“As the bombs continued to fall and Gaza remained under a near-total siege, global leaders convinced themselves a piece of paper could substitute for accountability, for a lifted blockade, for medicine reaching the people who needed it,”
Shalltoot said. “Even now, as access into Gaza remains heavily restricted and aid is weaponised against a starving population, their silence continues.”
Since the start of the war on October 23, more than 73,000 people have been killed. Most of the territory has been turned into rubble, and nearly 1.9 million people remain displaced.