More than 1,000 people have been killed in Gaza since a US-brokered ceasefire between Hamas and Israel was agreed in October, with the humanitarian situation in the besieged enclave remaining dire.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, Israeli attacks across Gaza have killed 1,005 Palestinians since the agreement was reached. The latest figures were released on Wednesday.
“We mourn as Gaza reaches yet another tragic milestone,” said Fikr Shalltoot, Gaza Director at Medical Aid for Palestinians. “Thousands more people who were told the worst was over are still burying their loved ones.”
Although the ceasefire brought an end to large-scale combat operations, the parties have failed to implement the second and more contentious phase of the agreement, which calls for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and the disarmament of Hamas.
Since October, Israel has expanded its control over the Palestinian territory, now holding 64 percent of the Gaza Strip, up from the 53 percent envisaged under the ceasefire framework.
Last Friday, dozens of families in eastern Gaza City were forced to flee after Israeli forces placed yellow cement blocks marking a further expansion of the so-called “Yellow Line” westward, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Earlier this month, Hamas political bureau member Husam Badran said the group would not surrender its weapons, insisting that the future of its military arsenal would only be determined after comprehensive consultations with other Palestinian factions.
The ceasefire agreement was also intended to pave the way for the reconstruction of Gaza and its devastated healthcare system. However, OCHA reports that only 20 of Gaza’s 37 hospitals remain partially operational, with no fully functioning hospital left in the enclave.
“As the bombs continued to fall and Gaza remained under a near-total siege, global leaders convinced themselves a piece of paper could substitute for accountability, for a lifted blockade, for medicine reaching the people who needed it,” Shalltoot said.
“Even now, as access into Gaza remains heavily restricted and aid is weaponised against a starving population, their silence continues.”
Since the war began on October 23, more than 73,000 people have been killed. Much of Gaza has been reduced to rubble, while nearly 1.9 million people remain displaced.
