There is a ceasefire finally in effect in the Gaza Strip, where Israel launched a horrific military campaign in response to attacks on the country’s south on 7 October 2023. On that day, Hamas fighters and their fellow militants assaulted Israeli settlements and fortified military outposts.
They killed around 1,200 people, and over 251 others were taken hostage, brought to Gaza, and hidden in underground tunnels. About 300 of those killed were Israeli soldiers.
Hamas claims that the attacks were in retaliation for Israel’s brutal and unjust occupation of Palestine. Gaza’s boundaries were drawn up as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, when it was occupied by Egypt. Egyptian forces were driven out of Gaza in the 1967 Six-Day War and Gaza was occupied by Israel, which then built settlements and placed the enclave’s Palestinian population under military rule.
The release of 20 Israeli hostages who are still alive and the return of about 20 dead is a key demand of Israel in the ceasefire agreement. Since Israeli forces launched its retaliatory campaign in October 2023, at least 887 Israeli soldiers have been killed as of July 2025. The number of dead or wounded Hamas fighters is unknown.
The first phase of the peace agreement includes a total end to the fighting; the release of all remaining Israeli hostages, living or dead; and the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners in exchange. Also, there was a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces to an already agreed-upon yellow line and more than 400 trucks of humanitarian aid a day began entering Gaza. An international group is supposed monitor the ceasefire. The second stage of the agreement is under negotiation.
The question now is can Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his far-right ministers be trusted to maintain the ceasefire,
The question now is can Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his far-right ministers be trusted to maintain the ceasefire, or will they invent excuses or make impossible demands to break it, as they did in the previous truce after 33 hostages were released?
Their aim is to continue the war and destroy Gaza to make it uninhabitable and kill all Hamas fighters, drive out the Palestinians, and make the territory a part of Israel.
Israel’s nonstop bombing of Gaza has killed at least 67,000 Palestinians. That is one in every 33 people. But many more bodies—perhaps, a thousand or more—lie buried under the rubble of collapsed buildings that Israel destroyed.
Most of Gaza—about 41 kilometers by 10 kilometres wide, and located on the eastern Mediterranean Sea—is where 2.1 million people are on the edge of starvation, if not already starving. Most of territory has been destroyed by Israeli bombing.
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The United Nations Satellite Centre identified 192,812 seriously damaged structures as of July 2025, which translates to 78 per cent of all buildings in Gaza at the time. Over 436,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed.
At least 20,000 children are among the dead. This translates to one child killed every hour for the past 24 months
Internally displaced
It is estimated that as of this October, 1.9 million to 2.1 million Palestinians in Gaza—approximately 90 per cent to 95 per cent of the population—have been internally displaced several times since October 23. They have been driven to southern Gaza, where they live in makeshift tents without adequate food, water or medicine due to Israel’s blockade on aid trucks. If the ceasefire holds, 400 aid trucks a day will flow into the enclave.
At least 20,000 children are among the dead. This translates to one child killed every hour for the past 24 months. It is estimated that about one in every 14 Palestinians—or 169,000 men, women and children—have suffered injuries and been left with lifelong disabilities. The UN Children’s Fund has estimated that 3,000 to 4,000 children in Gaza have lost one or more limbs.
There are few medical facilities left for the injured. By October, between 94 per cent and 95 per cent of Gaza’s 36 hospitals had been damaged or destroyed. There have been more than 400 attacks on health facilities, ambulances, doctors and health workers. As of August, over 1,700 health care workers had been killed. There are almost no medical supplies available, and amputations are done without anesthesia.
Israeli forces also attacked schools; 400 of these were hit. Some 95.2 per cent of schools were partially destroyed and rendered unusable. Some 518 out of 564 schools will need major repairs or total reconstruction. Over 60 university buildings have been completely destroyed. Palestinian students are highly educated, and these schools are a great loss.
At least 20,000 children are among the dead. This translates to one child killed every hour for the past 24 months
The blockade on food entering Gaza has caused widespread hunger. The world’s leading hunger monitoring agency, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification [IPC], has assessed that half a million Palestinians—a quarter of Gaza’s population—are suffering from famine. An estimated 460 have already died from hunger.
A few months ago, Donald Trump, the US president, bullied Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, into apologising to Qatar for an attack against it. He said Israel was almost totally isolated and condemned worldwide, but he would help undo that. How he would do that is unclear; it’s a daunting task.
The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry set up by the UN Human Rights Council issued a report in September saying Israel was guilty of committing genocide against Gazans by employing harsh conditions aimed at destroying the population. It claimed Netanyahu and former defense chief, Yoav Gallant, had incited genocide with their words and actions.
The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry set up by the UN Human Rights Council issued a report in September saying Israel was guilty of committing genocide against Gazans by employing harsh conditions aimed at destroying the population
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against the two on 21 November 2024, for alleged crimes against humanity, such as murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts. They allegedly used starvation as a weapon and directed attacks against a civilian population.
Trump’s 20-point peace plan, which is supported by many countries, offers the only hope for the Palestinians, and the first phase was reluctantly approved by Israel.
For the second phase, Israel is demanding the total surrender of Hamas fighters and the right to keep its forces in Gaza. This impossible demand is where Netanyahu hopes to stop the peace process and resume the war. We hope it will not be so.
Father Shay Cullen
www.preda.org
Father Shay Cullen
www.preda.org
