The fire has not, in fact, ceased. What is being described as a ceasefire is little more than a rhetorical device- one that conceals continued violence and shields Israel from accountability. This should surprise no one familiar with Israel’s long record of violating ceasefire agreements. Time and again, official statements prove unreliable, with explanations growing ever more implausible. Hospitals are never bombed intentionally, we are told unless, conveniently, a “Hamas camera” is said to be present. Such claims strain credulity and erode any remaining trust.
The fundamental problem is simple: the “fire” has not ceased. The truce exists largely on paper and in political sound bites. In reality, Israel continues to violate it on an almost daily basis, carrying out airstrikes, shootings, and other attacks against the people of Gaza much as it did before the agreement was announced. What has changed is not the violence itself, but its scale and presentation. Having shifted from overt, large-scale devastation to quieter and more sporadic assaults, Israeli leaders appear to be banking on international indifference- particularly from the United States and its allies, who have a vested interest in declaring that peace has been achieved.
Reported figures reinforce this reality. Media accounts indicate that Israel violated the ceasefire at least 497 times between October 10 and November 22, through air, artillery, and direct-fire attacks- an average of roughly 11 violations per day. United Nations experts, using more conservative estimates, reported on November 24 that since the ceasefire was announced on October 11, Israel had committed at least 393 violations, killing 339 Palestinians, including more than 70 children, and injuring over 871 others. Whether one adopts the higher or lower figure, the conclusion is inescapable: Gaza remains under sustained assault.
Some incidents are particularly stark. On October 28, Israeli airstrikes killed 104 Palestinians in a single attack, reportedly in retaliation for the death of one Israeli soldier, an act that would itself constitute a ceasefire violation. As has so often been the case, the strikes hit homes, schools, and residential blocks indiscriminately. According to a BBC report, 46 children and 20 women were among the dead, more than 60 percent of the total casualties.
Beyond direct military attacks, Israel has also failed to honour the ceasefire’s humanitarian and territorial commitments. The policy of deliberate deprivation continues. Gaza authorities report that only about 200 food trucks per day are being allowed entry, far below the agreed figure of 600, leaving malnutrition rates hovering around 90 percent. Meanwhile, the United Nations confirms that Israeli forces have not fully withdrawn, with at least 40 active Israeli military sites operating beyond the agreed withdrawal line, in clear violation of the ceasefire terms.
The so-called “yellow line,” which purportedly marks the boundary of Israeli withdrawal, is itself ambiguous and contradictory. The line depicted on official maps does not correspond to the areas actually occupied by Israeli forces. Palestinians who approach these zones, even unarmed, risk being shot and killed. As the research group Forensic Architecture bluntly concludes, “nowhere in Gaza is safe.” In truth, this arrangement is not a ceasefire at all. At best, it is a temporary lull; more accurately, it is a reduction in the visibility of violence. The processes of ethnic cleansing and genocide continue, merely by different means.
A November 21 report in The Guardian revealed that humanitarian organisations have experienced a catastrophic drop in donations since the ceasefire was announced. As one aid organiser explained, “the world thinks Palestinians don’t need our help anymore.” As a result, charities are struggling to deliver basic necessities such as blankets and winter clothing as Gaza enters a bitterly cold season.
Because of the ceasefire narrative, people will starve. And that, ultimately, is its purpose: to shift global attention away from Gaza, dampen public outrage, weaken anti-genocide movements, and allow Palestinian suffering to continue unseen and unchallenged.
