Three years on, the heaviest questions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict still have no answers

China News Service, October 8 (Wei Chenxi) On October 7, 2023, the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) launched a raid on military and civilian targets in Israel from the Gaza Strip and detained a large number of people. The Israeli army subsequently launched air strikes in the Gaza Strip, cutting off water, electricity, fuel and other supplies.

On October 7, 2023 local time, an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip caused a Palestinian apartment building to explode, causing fireballs and smoke to rise.

Since then, fighting in the Gaza Strip has continued and the situation has been unstable for a long time.

Data released by the Gaza health department on October 7, 2026 show that since the outbreak of the new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict, more than 74,000 Palestinians have died and more than 175,000 injured as of that day. After the ceasefire agreement was reached in October 2025, large-scale military operations decreased significantly, but the attacks have not completely stopped, and the displacement, casualties and humanitarian crisis have not really ended.

Three years later, the war has left more than just casualties. The trauma it brings is embedded in a key, a schoolbag, and a razed city. Can Gaza rebuild after the ceasefire? Can Palestine and Israel really get out of the war?

that chair

Who are you waiting for to come back?

In a tent in southern Gaza, 43-year-old Ahmed Ishtawi still keeps several black plastic chairs. Three years ago, he lived in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, with his own house, yard and garden; now, he and his family have been displaced many times, and the chair has become one of the few items left from his past life.

Ishtevi told the British "Guardian" that when he sat on the chair, he still thought of the days when he had breakfast and drank tea in the garden of his home. To others, it was just an ordinary plastic chair, but to him, it was a substitute for a home that had disappeared.

When 15-year-old Leyan Jubr fled from his home, he took only his schoolbag with him. Now, living in a temporary shelter with her family, she makes her bed and puts a cloth on the table to make the tent look as much like a home as possible. What she thinks of most often is her past room.

The changes that war brings to ordinary people are sometimes not in huge numbers, but in a key, a schoolbag or a few chairs. They are left behind and cherished because the old life no longer exists.

In southern Israel, trauma exists in a similar way.

According to the Associated Press, in places such as the southern Israeli city of Sderot, many residents still have difficulty getting rid of the memory of being raided in 2023. One resident said she is still unable to barbecue because the smell reminds her of the day of the attack. The ruins of Gaza can still be seen from some local viewing spots, but many residents still regard Gaza across the street as a security threat first.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas raided military and civilian targets in Israel from the Gaza Strip, resulting in the death of about 1,200 people, and about 250 people were taken back to the Gaza Strip and detained by Hamas and other Palestinian armed personnel. In a statement commemorating the third anniversary of the attacks on October 7, 2023, United Nations Secretary-General Guterres emphasized that "nothing can justify" the killings and kidnappings of civilians. He said that three years later, the pain caused by October 7 still continues to affect the families of the victims and survivors, who are still suffering from profound physical and mental trauma.

Another kind of trauma cannot be ignored either.

Gaza health department statistics show that as of October 7, more than 74,000 Palestinians have died. United Nations data shows that even after the ceasefire in October 2025, casualties continue to occur in Gaza; as of September 30, 1,431 Palestinians have been killed and 5,026 injured since the ceasefire.

Therefore, three years later, both Palestine and Israel still face a dilemma: both sides remember their own dead, but it becomes increasingly difficult to see the other's dead.

On October 17, 2023 local time, Gaza City, a Palestinian young man took a child injured when Israel shelled Ahli Arab Hospital to al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

61 million tons of ruins

Can cities still be rebuilt?

If a chair can show how war changes a family, then 61 million tons of ruins can show how much war has destroyed a city.

The United Nations Development Program estimates that there are currently about 61 million tons of war debris in Gaza, which is equivalent to about 20 times the total debris produced by all wars in the world in the past 18 years. The United Nations believes it could take seven to 10 years to clear much of the rubble, conditions permitting.

The Guardian reported on September 27 that Gaza has so far cleared about 907,000 tons of war debris, of which more than 300,000 tons have been recycled, but the cleared portion only accounts for about 1.5% of the total amount of ruins. The clean-up work also faces shortages of unexploded ordnance, machinery, equipment, and fuel.

What's even more worrying is that aid workers estimate that between 8,000 and 10,000 bodies may still be buried under the rubble. For Gaza, the so-called reconstruction does not even begin with building houses, but searching for the dead among the rubble.

Behind the collapsed buildings, urban infrastructure such as roads, hospitals, schools and residences were extensively damaged. The living space of a city has been cut off, and the public service system has been severely damaged.

Assessments released by the World Bank, the United Nations and the European Union in 2026 show that Gaza's recovery and reconstruction in the next 10 years will require approximately US$71.4 billion; more than 370,000 housing units have been destroyed or damaged, more than half of the hospitals are not functioning properly, and almost all schools have been damaged.

For many Gazans, "reconstruction" from the ruins is still a distant term.

According to the Associated Press, 35-year-old Shadi Balawi lost a leg during the war and originally supported his family by getting haircuts. Now, he lives in a temporary residence without prosthetic limbs and can only rely on crutches to support his body. He has picked up haircut tools again and cuts people's hair in a simple tent.

Stories like this perhaps illustrate the current situation in Gaza better than any reconstruction plan.

What is even more troublesome is that the ruins are only the physical traces left by the war, and the geopolitical issues have not disappeared with the ceasefire agreement. Who will govern Gaza, who will be responsible for security, whether Hamas will disarm, when Israel will withdraw its troops, and who will bear the cost of reconstruction, these issues directly determine whether Gaza can truly begin to recover.

On December 27, 2023 local time, thick smoke billowed from the northern Gaza Strip.

ceasefire for one year

Why hasn’t peace arrived yet?

In October 2025, Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire agreement. Since then, large-scale military operations in the Gaza Strip have significantly decreased, some hostages have been released, and humanitarian assistance has increased. For the people of Gaza who have experienced two years of war, this means a rare respite.

But one year later, there is still a huge gap between ceasefire and peace.

Reuters reported on October 6 that the first phase of the ceasefire in Gaza resulted in a ceasefire and the release of remaining hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees. However, follow-up goals such as disarmament of Hamas, Israeli withdrawal, and reconstruction of Gaza are still stalled; Israel still controls about two-thirds of the Gaza Strip. Gaza health authorities say more than 1,400 Palestinians have died since the ceasefire in October 2025.

A report released by the United Nations on October 2 also showed that there are still casualties and serious humanitarian needs in Gaza after the ceasefire. About 279,000 people still live in 400 displacement camps at risk of flooding, and more than 2,300 buildings with safety hazards are still occupied.

This means that "postwar life" has still not really begun for many local people.

The real problem is what to do after the ceasefire.

Israel demands that Hamas disarm and links this to a further withdrawal of Israeli troops; Hamas demands that Israel withdraw its troops. At the same time, the international community is pushing to start the reconstruction of Gaza as soon as possible, but reconstruction is inseparable from conditions such as security, governance, funding, and the entry of personnel and materials. As long as these key issues remain unresolved, it will be difficult for a ceasefire to truly translate into a stable situation.

Analysis said that the attack on October 7, 2023, broke the long-term sense of security in Israeli society and exposed the limitations of "managing conflicts" rather than resolving conflicts. After three years of war, Gaza has once again demonstrated that military operations can change the balance of power on the battlefield, but they cannot automatically solve the political, security and governance issues behind the conflict.

This is also one of the most worthy questions to ask after the third anniversary of the outbreak of a new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict: A ceasefire can temporarily stop air strikes, but how can the war truly end?