The weapons in the Gaza war have been silent since October 2025, but Israeli attacks continue and Hamas has not yet disarmed. Meanwhile, local people are longing for normality.
Israel's army has recently increased its air strikes again. Photo: Jehad Alshrafi/AP/dpa
Gaza/Tel Aviv. There has actually been a ceasefire in the Gaza war for a year, but peace is not in sight. A US-driven plan to end the war between Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas is stalling. Meanwhile, people in the Gaza Strip continue to live under precarious conditions. Israel's army has recently increased its air strikes again.
What is the current status of the ceasefire?
Israel's military says it is specifically targeting senior Hamas members in recent attacks. Often these are those involved in the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023. Israel wants to kill all of the remaining 2,000 people involved. In total, around 5,000 to 6,000 terrorists are said to have entered Israel on the day of the massacre.
Israeli military expert Danny Orbach from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem does not assume that Israel will completely end the ceasefire - also in order to avoid becoming further isolated internationally. The country wants to use the attacks to put pressure on Hamas so that the Islamist organization gives up its remaining strongholds in the Gaza Strip.
Since the ceasefire began, the Israeli military has controlled just over half of the Gaza Strip, while Hamas has consolidated its control in the rest of the area. “Israel has severely weakened Hamas militarily, but has not managed to oust it from power in the areas of the Gaza Strip it controls,” says Orbach. He does not believe that Israel's army will achieve this with its strategy of targeted attacks. A diplomatic solution is needed for this.
What happens next with the Gaza plan?
However, a US-backed plan that calls for the disarmament of Hamas and then the withdrawal of the Israeli army and the reconstruction of the extensively destroyed area is currently making no progress. Israel criticizes the fact that Hamas' weapons are to be stored under Palestinian control. The country is demanding that the weapons be completely removed from the coastal strip so that they do not fall back into the hands of Hamas.
Military expert Orbach summarizes the situation as follows: "Hamas hopes to survive politically and militarily until the international community puts pressure on Israel to allow reconstruction even without disarmament. Israel, in turn, hopes that the prospect of reconstruction and the costs of ongoing destruction will eventually persuade Hamas to give in." There is currently no end to the standstill in sight. The overarching goal of the plan is a permanent end to the war.
What was the situation before the ceasefire began?
The trigger for the devastating war was the massacre on October 7, 2023 in Israel. Terrorists from the Gaza Strip killed around 1,200 people and kidnapped more than 250 others into the Palestinian territory. Since then, more than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's airstrikes and ground operations, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority. The statistics do not distinguish between civilians and armed fighters.
After the laboriously negotiated ceasefire began on October 10, 2025, Hamas released the last 20 living hostages. In return, Israel released around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. In the months that followed, Hamas also handed over the last hostage bodies.
How has the humanitarian situation developed?
Experts currently no longer see famine in the Gaza Strip, but there is still food insecurity. The aid organization Care criticizes the fact that “humanitarian aid is still not being provided reliably and in sufficient quantities”. Many people in the coastal area continue to live in confined spaces in tents or damaged buildings.
More than 100 organizations recently declared that the ceasefire only existed on paper. There are still deaths every day because of the Israeli attacks. “None of the 36 hospitals in the Gaza Strip are fully functional, and there is a critical shortage of medicines, medical equipment and fuel,” said Amnesty International, Oxfam and Save the Children, among others. “Children continue to die from preventable diseases.”
However, the Israeli Cogat authority, which is responsible for Palestinian affairs, explains that goods are always delivered at the request of international organizations and in accordance with local needs. Medical supplies and the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip are stable.
Related topics
PalestineUSAAmnesty InternationalOxfamTerrorism
What do the people of Gaza say about their situation?
Residents of the Gaza Strip continue to report difficult living conditions a year after the ceasefire began. 13-year-old Adam Abu Jazar from the south of the area says he still spends a lot of time fetching water for his family. He dreams of having time to play again. “I want to feel like a kid again instead of worrying about the things my family needs to survive.”
Amina al-Shawa, whose husband was killed in the Gaza war, said she had to flee three times last year despite a ceasefire. The family's tent was once hit in an Israeli attack. In an interview with the German Press Agency, the 46-year-old said: “I want a safe home in which my children can sleep without fear.”
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