Donald Trump brags that his ceasefire agreement in Gaza is the first step to “a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace.” 

But this is already a bloody lie. Since the ceasefire went into effect on October 10, Israel has violated it at least 48 different times, killing scores of people and continuing the forced hunger and deprivation of the people in Gaza.

As we go to press, Israel launched dozens of deadly attacks across Gaza killing at least 44 people—bombing a coffee house, people near a soccer club, a tent and a refugee camp. Israel justified this by saying that Hamas broke the truce by killing two Israeli soldiers in the Rafah area but as of now, they have provided no evidence of this. 

Abdullah Abu Hasanin, 29, in central Gaza, told Al Jazeera: “The situation is as if the war has returned anew. We had hoped the agreement would hold, but the occupation respects nothing—not an agreement, not anything." He said he rushed to the site of a nearby bombing to help, “the scene is indescribable. Blood has returned again.”

After this spate of Israeli violence—targeting civilians—both Israel and Hamas have stated that they are committed to maintaining the ceasefire and carrying out Trump’s plan. But as can be seen by the last 10 days, the situation is unpredictable.

The Nightmare Is Far from Over

“This was the most beautiful place this camp. But now, you can see, it’s rubble, destruction. Life isn’t life anymore. We can’t find water. We can’t find food. We can’t find anything to drink. It’s like we’ve gone back to disaster. It’s like a nightmare, something you would have never imagined seeing.”

-Gaza City resident Mahmoud Abo Emeira¹

In the last two years, Israel dropped some 200,000 tons of explosives on Gaza, equal in explosive power to 13 Hiroshima atomic bombs, on a territory just 141 square miles (this is the size of Philadelphia). Nothing was spared, not family homes, apartment buildings, hospitals, schools, farms, or bakeries. An aid worker who recently drove through central Gaza said “every single building is damaged or destroyed, and people are living under the rubble.” 

And that’s not the half of it. Israel didn’t just destroy buildings, it destroyed lives, whole families and whole communities. It killed over 68,000 Palestinians, injured over 170,000, and left many thousands buried under rubble. Twenty thousand of the dead were children, some less than a year old. Everyone is traumatized by Israel’s relentless attacks, and many by the loss of one or both parents, siblings or children. Over 600,000 children in Gaza have been deprived of any schooling for two years. 

Israel blocked food, water, fuel, medicines, and more, causing famine, starvation, and disease. 

This is what hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, forced from their homes, are returning to. They’re sheltering in damaged buildings, tents, or whatever they can cobble together. They’re still desperately trying to feed themselves. There are no jobs, few have money, and most have lost everything. They don’t know what the future—or even the next day—will bring. 

Israel Sets Up Arbitrary Death Traps

Israeli troops are occupying over 50 percent of Gaza—which is already overfull and densely populated, now with almost no standing buildings and people living on top of each other in tents and amidst rubble. Israel's justifications for many of its murders over the last 10 days have been that Palestinians supposedly came too close to Israeli encampments. Not because they were armed or seeking to attack the Israelis, just for coming too close!

Israel has established what they call yellow and red lines beyond which no Palestinians can cross—but there is no way to know where these actually are.

On October 17, the Israeli army shelled a car in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City and killed 11 people. “They had crossed the so-called ‘yellow line,’ an imaginary boundary mentioned by the Israeli army,” the spokesperson for Gaza’s civil defense organization told the Guardian. “I am certain the family couldn’t distinguish between the yellow and red lines because there are no actual physical markers on the ground.” 

"Peace" Plan Supposed to Bring Relief—but Israel Still Blocking Urgently Needed Aid 

Trump’s "peace" plan that the U.S., Israel and Hamas agreed to was supposed to end the forced starvation of Gaza by Israel. Israel agreed to allow 600 trucks of humanitarian aid into Gaza every day. 

But this past week, Israel began blocking, delaying and restricting aid convoys—threatening the health and lives of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. This aid includes cooking gas, tents for the displaced, frozen meat, fruit, flour, and medical supplies which Israel has prevented from coming into Gaza since March.

Among other things:

• Israel has blocked more than half the agreed-upon 600 trucks of aid each day, the UN has reported, and that for two days this past week Israel didn’t allow any aid in at all. This after Israel’s destruction of some 98 percent of Gaza’s farmland has made the territory almost entirely dependent on food shipments coming largely through Israel.
• Israel has so far refused to open the Rafah Crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which is crucial for bringing in humanitarian supplies, and for enabling Palestinians to leave Gaza, including to get urgent medical care.
• Infectious diseases such as meningitis, diarrhea, and respiratory illnesses are “spiraling out of control,” the World Health Organization (WHO) warns, because medical supplies have been restricted and Israeli attacks have left only 13 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals even partially functioning.
• The director general of Gaza’s health ministry says that the 170,000 Palestinians wounded by Israel each need, on average, three surgeries. Gaza’s hospitals still face massive shortages of medicine, clean water, and supplies, yet Israel continues to block doctors and most medical aid from entering Gaza. He warned that without a surge of supplies, “These people will die before our eyes.”
• Israel’s genocidal assault has left Gaza with as many as 20,000 unexploded bombs and missiles, mixed in with over 60 million tons of rubble. This has created an enormous reconstruction—and safety—crisis. Yet Israel continues to restrict the rescue tools and heavy equipment needed to clear the rubble and recover the 10,000 bodies Gaza’s civil defense agency estimates are buried in the debris.  

Israel’s Bullshit Excuse for Blocking Life-Saving Aid

Israel’s excuse for blocking life-saving aid is that Hamas was violating the ceasefire agreement by not immediately returning to Israel all the deceased hostages it held.

While Hamas' kidnapping and holding hostages in the first place was unjust, this is a sick and bullshit excuse. 

First, Hamas did uphold the agreement by returning, on October 13, all 20 living Israeli hostages it held. Since then, it has returned the remains of 10 of the 28 deceased hostages it also agreed to return. However, it and the International Red Cross have made clear from the beginning that finding those remaining 18 bodies would be very difficult.

Why? Because Israel bombed or bulldozed over 80 percent of Gaza, and whatever remains there are buried under millions of tons of debris and rubble, and mixed in with the bodies of thousands of Palestinian civilians!

And now Israel is blocking equipment needed to remove that rubble, but still using starvation—and threats of ending the ceasefire—as collective punishment. (See the accompanying article on Israel’s sick treatment of Palestinian hostages, living and dead.)

Like a Rabid Attack Dog, Israel Straining at the Leash to Strike Again 

Israel isn’t just killing Palestinians and restricting humanitarian aid. It’s also leaving open the possibility of resuming its genocide on one level or another. And the fascists in Israel are itching to complete the full ethnic cleansing of Gaza.

This past week Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (aka Netan-Nazi) declared his government’s military campaign in Gaza was “not over,” and that it won’t agree to an end of the war until Hamas’s government and military wing in Gaza are dismantled—steps which have yet to be hashed out in Phase 2 of the negotiations. 

Meanwhile, Israel’s Defense Minister called for preparing a “comprehensive plan” to defeat Hamas, in other words resume the mass slaughter, if the Gaza ceasefire collapses. 

Trump Lashes Out, Raises Possibility of Israel Resuming Its Genocide 

Trump has insisted, apparently over Israeli objections, that their “war”—i.e. genocidal slaughter—in Gaza is over.²

But he’s also repeatedly lashed out at Hamas, which has re-emerged in Gaza, violently clashed with other forces, including some aligned with Israel, and carried out some public executions of those they accuse of being “lawbreakers” and collaboration with Israel.³

On October 16, Trump warned that if Hamas continued to kill people in Gaza, “We will have no choice but to go in and kill them.” (He later clarified that by "we," he didn't mean the U.S.)

Trump has also threatened Hamas if it doesn’t disarm (an issue which has not yet been negotiated), he would consider giving Israeli forces the green light to resume fighting: “Israel will return to those streets as soon as I say the word. If Israel could go in and knock the crap of them, they’d do that.”⁴

A Dangerous and Uncertain Situation, With Genocidal Monsters Still on the Loose

While the future is uncertain, what's still and urgently needed is an end to the U.S.-Israeli genocide in Gaza! Millions have stood up around the world and that must continue demanding an end to the imperialist domination and oppression of the Palestinian people. 

And while we do so, lifting our sights to fight for a future worthy of the Palestinian people—and all humanity—who have survived hell on earth, for the children who have continued to dance and play amidst this nightmare.

Stop the U.S./Israeli Genocide of the Palestinian People!

End the Siege on Gaza!