One year after a ceasefire agreement was officially reached in Gaza, more than 100 humanitarian, human rights, and civil society organizations have warned that the truce exists entirely in name only. According to the coalition of aid groups, Israeli forces have continued to kill and injure Palestinians on a daily basis, while sweeping restrictions on humanitarian aid, heavy equipment, and essential rebuilding materials have severely crippled any prospects for local recovery.
The sobering assessment comes exactly one year after the announcement of the agreement, marking a grim milestone for a territory that remains deeply shattered. Data released alongside the joint statement indicates that over the past twelve months, more than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli strikes, gunfire, and ongoing military operations. Among the dead are at least 327 children.
Humanitarian agencies emphasize that the ongoing violence and catastrophic deprivation must not be normalized under the protective cover of a nominal ceasefire agreement. In many areas, families and exhausted rescue workers have been forced to recover hundreds of decomposing bodies directly from the wreckage of flattened buildings using only their bare hands. This desperate measure has become necessary because Israeli authorities continue to restrict the entry of heavy machinery, cranes, and engineering equipment required to safely lift heavy concrete slabs. Countless more bodies are believed to remain buried and entirely unreachable beneath the sprawling miles of rubble.
Compounding the violence, the Israeli military has further expanded its presence by moving the so-called Yellow Line deeper into the interior of Gaza, stretching far beyond the initial withdrawal boundaries outlined in the original agreement. This tactical shift has compressed the Palestinian population into an increasingly narrow, densely congested enclave, sharply escalating overcrowding and worsening the humanitarian footprint across the territory.
Local civil society organizations report operating under near-impossible conditions. Mohsen Abu Ramadan, a board member of the Palestinian NGO Network, highlighted the immense pressure faced by local aid providers. "Palestinian organisations are responding to immense needs under Israeli occupation with destroyed offices, displaced staff, and shrinking budgets," Abu Ramadan said. Stressing that local institutions represent the critical first responders on the ground, he called for immediate protection, urging the international community to act decisively to end Israeli attacks and operational restrictions, while demanding that international donors provide direct, flexible funding to address mounting community needs.
The human toll of the past year has drawn sharp condemnation from international aid executives, who argue that the agreement has failed to deliver basic safety or relief. Inger Ashing, CEO of Save the Children, underscored the grim reality facing the youngest generation in Gaza. "A ceasefire is meaningless if children are still being killed and families are still unable to rebuild their lives," Ashing stated. "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."
Recent high-resolution satellite imagery illustrates the staggering scale of destruction inflicted by Israeli forces across the coastal strip. Entire neighborhoods have been systematically reduced to pulverized rubble, residential homes flattened, and vital agricultural lands razed to the earth. Current estimates indicate that more than 80 percent of all structures across the Gaza Strip have sustained structural damage, with roughly two-thirds completely destroyed.
With winter fast approaching, the humanitarian situation for hundreds of thousands of displaced families has reached a critical juncture. Families continue to inhabit makeshift tents, fragile temporary shelters, or severely damaged residential buildings, bracing themselves for a fourth consecutive winter exposed to biting cold, driving wind, and heavy flooding. Demographic vulnerabilities add another layer of crisis, with nearly one in every four households in Gaza now headed by a woman. These female-headed households face disproportionately higher risks of residing in unsafe, highly inadequate shelters with virtually no financial cushion.
For a vast number of residents, safe housing options are nonexistent. Families frequently have little choice but to shelter inside unstable, war-damaged structures that remain at immediate risk of sudden collapse. The deadly consequences of this housing shortage were underscored in September, when a severely damaged building in Gaza City suddenly collapsed, killing 21 people, including 12 children.
Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, expressed profound dismay over the lack of progress over the past year. "It is utterly shameful that a full year after the ceasefire was signed, so little has improved for Palestinians in Gaza," Egeland said. "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."
These systemic bureaucratic and physical restrictions have also decimated Gaza’s essential public services and healthcare infrastructure. Currently, not a single one of Gaza’s 36 hospitals is fully functioning. Critical supplies, including life-saving medicines, specialized medical equipment, and hospital fuel, remain critically scarce. The collapse of the healthcare system places vulnerable populations at acute risk. Newborn babies housed in struggling incubators, patients requiring continuous oxygen or intensive care, older residents, and individuals coping with disabilities or severe life-changing injuries face daily threats to their survival as specialized treatment, physical rehabilitation, and assistive services remain severely constrained.
The backlog for urgent medical care continues to mount. More than 18,500 patients, including at least 4,000 children, remain in urgent need of medical evacuation outside the territory for specialized care that is locally unavailable. To date, more than 1,000 patients have died while waiting for approval to leave.
Simultaneously, food insecurity has reached catastrophic proportions. An estimated 1.4 million people are grappling with crisis-level hunger or worse as the year draws to a close. This food emergency is compounded by widespread lack of clean drinking water and shattered sanitation infrastructure, which continue to accelerate the rapid spread of preventable waterborne diseases.
The persistent patterns of violence, deprivation, and obstruction over the past year mirror the catastrophic conditions that prompted the UN Commission of Inquiry—in reports issued in September 2025 and June 2026—to conclude that Israel has committed acts of genocide. Aid agencies emphasize that the international community’s legal and moral responsibilities do not conclude simply with the signing of a diplomatic agreement on paper.
Agnès Callmard, Secretary-General of Amnesty International, underscored the absolute necessity of legal accountability. "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."