Gaza — One year after the brokering of a Gaza ceasefire agreement, a coalition of more than 100 humanitarian, human rights, and civil society organisations has warned that the accord exists in name only. According to the groups, Israeli forces have continued to kill and injure Palestinians on a daily basis, while crippling restrictions on aid, heavy equipment, and rebuilding materials have completely paralyzed any prospects of recovery for families trapped in the enclave.
The joint coalition issued a stark warning that the ongoing killing and systemic deprivation must not be normalized under the cover of a nominal ceasefire agreement. Over the past twelve months, the humanitarian situation across the occupied Palestinian territory has deteriorated into what international agencies describe as an unmitigated catastrophe, characterized by widespread infrastructure collapse, acute hunger, and the total breakdown of healthcare services.
Reflecting on the grim milestone, Mohsen Abu Ramadan, a board member of the Palestinian NGO Network, emphasized the immense pressure local responders face under continued occupation. “Palestinian organisations are responding to immense needs under Israeli occupation with destroyed offices, displaced staff, and shrinking budgets,” Abu Ramadan said. “Local and national organisations are first responders and will remain, but we need to be protected. Governments must act to end Israel’s attacks and restrictions on our work and donors must provide direct, flexible funding to meet the needs.”
Unrelenting Violence and Deepening Devastation
Since the announcement of the ceasefire agreement, Israeli military strikes, shootings, and ongoing operations have claimed the lives of more than 1,400 Palestinians, including at least 327 children. This equates to roughly one Palestinian killed or wounded in Gaza every 90 minutes.
Rescue workers and desperate family members have been forced to recover hundreds of decomposing bodies directly from the rubble using their bare hands. These harrowing efforts are the direct result of strict Israeli prohibitions blocking the entry of heavy machinery, cranes, and specialized excavation equipment needed to lift collapsed concrete slabs. Consequently, an untold number of victims remain buried and unreachable beneath the ruins of their former neighborhoods.
Compounding the violence, the Israeli military has advanced the boundaries of the so-called Yellow Line deeper into the Gaza Strip, pushing far beyond the designated withdrawal limits outlined in the original agreement. This territorial encroachment has forcibly squeezed the remaining Palestinian population into an increasingly small, congested, and densely overcrowded strip of land, drastically compounding safety risks and daily hardships.
Satellite imagery captured over the past year underscores the staggering scale of the devastation. Entire neighborhoods have been systematically reduced to pulverized rubble, residential homes have been flattened to their foundations, and once-fertile agricultural lands have been thoroughly razed. Data indicates that more than 80% of all structures across the Gaza Strip have sustained varying degrees of damage, with approximately two-thirds completely destroyed.
A Fourth Winter in Tents Amid Collapsing Infrastructure
As another harsh winter approaches, hundreds of thousands of families continue to languish in makeshift tents, tattered tarps, or severely damaged homes. They now face their fourth consecutive winter entirely exposed to biting cold, freezing winds, and destructive flooding. Women bear a disproportionate burden of this ongoing displacement; nearly one in every four households in Gaza is currently headed by a woman, and these families are statistically far more vulnerable to living in unsafe, substandard, or utterly inadequate shelters.
With virtually nowhere safe to go, desperate families frequently take shelter in structurally compromised, war-damaged buildings that face an imminent risk of total collapse. The lethal danger of this reality was starkly illustrated in September, when a severely damaged building suddenly caved in on its occupants in Gaza City, killing 21 people, including 12 children.
Inger Ashing, CEO of Save the Children, voiced deep frustration over the international community’s failure to protect civilians. “A ceasefire is meaningless if children are still being killed and families are still unable to rebuild their lives,” Ashing said. “Since the ceasefire was announced, nearly one child has been killed every day. Families remain trapped in a devastating cycle of loss and deprivation, unable to recover. Governments that backed this agreement must use their influence to stop the killing and ensure children can access food, healthcare, shelter and education. Gaza’s children have a right to safety and a future. Governments have the power to help secure both, and they must use it.”
Echoing these concerns, Jan Egeland, Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, highlighted the cruel dilemmas forced upon ordinary civilians. “It is utterly shameful that a full year after the ceasefire was signed, so little has improved for Palestinians in Gaza,” Egeland stated. “Families are still being forced to make impossible choices, between sheltering in damaged and dangerous buildings or living in tents facing unbearable temperatures. Israeli restrictions are still preventing the required equipment or materials, which are the only ways for communities to begin rebuilding their lives. As winter approaches, all governments must take concrete steps to ensure that the flow of aid increases without hindrance, so that Palestinians can finally begin the vast task of recovery and reconstruction.”
Collapse of Healthcare and Basic Survival Services
The deliberate and sustained blockade on equipment and construction materials has had a catastrophic impact on Gaza’s essential services, most notably the healthcare sector. Currently, not a single one of Gaza’s 36 hospitals is fully functioning. Facilities struggle daily with critical shortages of life-saving medicines, specialized medical equipment, and the fuel required to run emergency generators.
Vulnerable patients—including newborn babies relying on incubators, individuals requiring intensive care or oxygen support, elderly citizens, and people living with disabilities or severe, life-changing injuries—face acute, daily risks. Specialized medical treatment, rehabilitation programs, and assistive services remain severely restricted or entirely unavailable.
The medical crisis is further compounded by a massive backlog of patients requiring advanced treatment abroad. More than 18,500 patients, including at least 4,000 children, are still waiting for medical evacuation from the enclave. Tragically, over 1,000 patients have already died while waiting for permission to leave.
Simultaneously, the food security situation remains critical. An estimated 1.4 million people across Gaza are facing crisis-level hunger or worse as the year draws to a close. Coupled with widespread shortages of safe drinking water and the near-total destruction of municipal sanitation and sewage systems, the population remains at extreme risk of rapidly spreading, preventable waterborne diseases.
Calls for Accountability Under International Law
Human rights advocates and institutional leaders argue that the current reality on the ground reflects a chillingly familiar pattern. Across Gaza, families continue to suffer violent deaths, children succumb to preventable illnesses, and vast stretches of land remain heavily littered with unexploded military ordnance. Homes lie untouched beneath mountains of debris that cannot be cleared, while life-saving humanitarian aid is routinely blocked from reaching the people who need it most.
Observers point out that these conditions mirror the severe deprivation that previously led the UN Commission of Inquiry, in reports issued in September 2025 and June 2026, to conclude that Israel has committed genocide. Humanitarian leaders emphasize that the international community’s legal and moral responsibility does not end with the signing of a superficial agreement on paper.
Agnes Callmard, Secretary-General of Amnesty International, underscored the absolute necessity of legal recourse and systemic justice. “Accountability cannot be swept under the rubble,” Callmard said. “The recovery and future of Gaza cannot be separated from a framework grounded in international law, justice, and the rights of victims. The persistent failure to hold Israel accountable and press Israel to comply with the International Court of Justice’s binding orders continues to fuel the atrocity crimes on a mass scale against Palestinians.”