Six months after the signing of the ceasefire agreement on October 10, the reality on the ground remains dramatic.
Representatives from Gaza and major international humanitarian organizations presented yesterday, at a press conference organized by the NGO Refugees International and in which “Vima” participated, the findings of a new investigation into the living conditions in the Palestinian enclave.
As noted, six months after the agreement, Palestinians continue to experience extreme deprivation, hunger, injury and death due to ongoing Israeli attacks, restrictions on movement and obstruction of humanitarian aid.
The survey was produced by five major organizations — the Danish Refugee Council, the Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, Refugees International and Save the Children — and is reflected in a “scorecard”, which assesses progress against the agreement’s own goals: protection of civilians, access to humanitarian aid, reconstruction and economic development, and freedom of movement and return.
The conclusions are clear: the implementation of these key commitments is failing.
“The word truce does not reflect reality”
At the press conference, Palestinian Gada Al-Haddad, Oxfam’s communications officer in Gaza, starkly described daily life:
“My name is Gada and I am speaking to you as a Palestinian living in Gaza. I want to start by saying that the word “truce” does not reflect the reality around us. A truce suggests security, stability, the beginning of recovery, the beginning of rebuilding. Here in Gaza, none of that exists.”
As he describes, each day begins with the sounds of war: “Every morning I wake up to the same sounds that have defined our lives for a long time. Explosions in the background, gunfire, drones overhead. These are not sounds of peace — they are sounds of war.”
The daily life of the citizens is a constant battle for survival: “Six months later, people have lost their means of livelihood and are almost exclusively dependent on humanitarian aid. Many do not have enough food. Families still share what little they have. Clean water remains elusive.”
She emphasizes that basic infrastructure remains damaged, while the necessary equipment for repairs is not allowed to enter, and that the fuel crisis is dramatically worsening the situation.
Agriculture has also been destroyed: “Our land, which once fed us, has been destroyed. The ground is contaminated and in many areas there are unexploded ordnance, making it impossible for the farmers to return.”
In closing, he makes an appeal: “We are capable people. We know how to rebuild our communities. But we cannot do that if we are deprived of the basic means of survival. Six months after this so-called truce, hope is one of the few things left — and even that is fragile.”
Children playing “war”
Even harsher is the picture described by Palestine Siruk, media manager of Save the Children in Gaza, focusing on the children:
“As a mother, I want to talk about the children — they are the ones who suffer the most.”
The figures are revealing: more than 180 children have been killed during the ceasefire period, while over 20,000 children have lost their lives since the start of the war.
However, beyond the numbers, she describes the alteration of childhood:
“Children in Gaza turn war into play, pretending to shoot and launch rockets as violence becomes part of everyday life.”
She shares a personal experience:
“Recently, after months of searching, I was able to find a doll for my daughter, in her favorite color, purple, for almost five times its normal value due to restrictions. A few days later, I saw her holding the doll and shouting “witness, witness”.
Education has also collapsed as this is the third school year in which many children have been denied access to education as almost all schools have been destroyed.
“When the borders remain closed and reconstruction materials are not allowed to enter, it is almost impossible to move forward,” Siruk says.
The picture that emerges from the research and the testimonies is uniform and unrelenting: “ceasefire” in Gaza remains, for a large part of the population, a word without a counterpoint.
