Since the Gaza “ceasefire” began six months ago, Israeli attacks have killed at least 738 people and injured more than 2,000, according to Palestine’s Ministry of Health. Overall, Gaza faces unprecedented devastation: more than 10 percent of its population has been killed or injured. The wider death toll since the start of the war has surpassed 72,000 people, mostly children and women, with at least 172,000 injured and many others believed trapped under rubble.
The United States-brokered ceasefire, which took effect on October 10, has been violated thousands of times by Israel through near-daily attacks. After Israeli and US strikes on Iran on February 28, Israeli authorities shut down all Gaza crossings, halting medical evacuations. The Rafah crossing—meant under the ceasefire to allow 50 patients and their companions daily for treatment—was closed.
Healthcare is at crisis point. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) documented more than 18,500 patients, including 4,000 children, needing medical evacuation. Although Israel announced a limited resumption of medical evacuations through Rafah on March 19, only 625 of 7,800 travelers—about 8 percent of the agreed number—have been permitted to leave for treatment since February 28.
The humanitarian crisis is compounded by restrictions on food and medical supplies. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) reports that 77 percent of Gaza’s population now experiences severe acute food insecurity.
Gaza’s Government Media Office disputed a claim by Board of Peace envoy Nickolay Mladenov that 602 aid trucks entered Gaza in one day, saying only 207 trucks entered and just 79 carried humanitarian assistance. The office said incoming aid “does not meet the level of humanitarian response required” and falls far short of “scaled access.” It added that Israel’s implementation of the humanitarian protocol under the ceasefire has not exceeded 38 percent of agreed levels and warned that “distorting the facts cannot conceal the scale of the catastrophe” while calling for international intervention to protect Palestinian civilians.