Six months after the U.S.-brokered ceasefire took effect on October 10, Gaza continues to suffer frequent Israeli strikes. Palestine’s Ministry of Health reports that since the truce began at least 738 people have been killed and more than 2,000 wounded. The longer war has already produced staggering losses: over 72,000 dead—predominantly women and children—and at least 172,000 injured, with many more believed trapped beneath rubble.
The ceasefire has been breached repeatedly; near-daily Israeli operations are reported to have violated the agreement thousands of times. Following Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iran on February 28, Israeli authorities closed all Gaza crossings, stopping medical evacuations. The Rafah crossing, which the ceasefire had designated to allow 50 patients and their companions out each day for treatment, was shut down.
Medical services are at breaking point. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs documented more than 18,500 patients in need of evacuation, including roughly 4,000 children. Although Israel announced a limited restart of medical evacuations through Rafah on March 19, only 625 of an expected 7,800 travelers—around 8 percent—have been allowed to leave for treatment since the late-February closures.
The humanitarian situation is exacerbated by tight restrictions on food and medical supplies. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) finds that 77 percent of Gaza’s population now faces severe acute food insecurity.
Gaza’s Government Media Office disputed claims from Board of Peace envoy Nickolay Mladenov that 602 aid trucks entered Gaza in a single day, saying instead that 207 trucks arrived and only 79 carried humanitarian aid. The office said incoming assistance falls far short of what is needed and that Israel’s implementation of the humanitarian protocol under the ceasefire has not exceeded 38 percent of agreed levels. It warned that presenting inflated figures cannot hide the scale of the catastrophe and reiterated calls for international intervention to protect Palestinian civilians.