Six months after a ceasefire took effect in Gaza on Oct. 10, 2025, the 2 million Palestinians living in the ravaged territory remain trapped in limbo as aid delivery falters and fundamental reconstruction work stalls. While the most intense fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas-led militants has stopped, displaced families continue sheltering in vast tent camps and damaged apartment buildings with little improvement in their daily lives.
Humanitarian Crisis Deepens
Health workers and humanitarian officials report little progress in delivering the anticipated surge of medical supplies and other aid to the territory. Five international aid groups released a scorecard Thursday declaring that the U.S. 20-point ceasefire plan for Gaza is largely failing on the humanitarian front, with conditions deteriorating further since the Iran war began. During the first two weeks of March 2026, trucks entering Gaza declined by 80%, and the price of basic goods increased dramatically. Medical evacuations have stalled. Aid enters through only a single, Israeli-controlled border post.
"There is pollution and disease. It's as if there's no ceasefire at all," said Maysa Abu Jedian, a displaced woman from Beit Lahiya. Eyad Abu Dagga, sheltering in a camp in Khan Younis, echoed the frustration: "The war is still ongoing and life is still terrible as it is."
Violence Continues Despite Ceasefire
While the heaviest fighting has subsided, Israeli forces have carried out airstrikes and fired on Palestinians near military-held zones. Militants have carried out shooting attacks on troops, and Israel has said its strikes are in response to ceasefire violations. As of Thursday, Israeli attacks have killed 738 people in the six months since the ceasefire, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which maintains detailed casualty records seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. Overall, the ministry says 72,317 Palestinians had been killed since the war in Gaza began with the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel.
International Attention Diverted
The unwavering focus on Gaza, once at the heart of passionate international outcry, has been lost with the rise of a new regional war, decreasing pressure for progress on the ceasefire. The humanitarian groups' scorecard notes that any forward movement on aid issues has "generally required sustained diplomatic pressure at the highest levels, particularly from the United States. That pressure, however, has not been applied consistently or at the scale needed to secure full implementation."
The Trump administration's Board of Peace, which kicked off with $7 billion in pledges and sweeping intentions of resolving Gaza and other conflicts, has not met again since nine days after its initial meeting, when the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran. The entire Middle East, including key Gaza mediators Egypt and Qatar, now focuses on Iran and that war's effects on their economies.
Reconstruction and Governance Stalled
Most of the ceasefire work remains to be done, including disarming Hamas, ending its two-decade rule, deploying an international stabilization force and beginning vast reconstruction. The Board of Peace is still waiting for Hamas to respond to its proposal on disarming, which a U.S. official called a major concession and perhaps the hardest step. The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Hamas has not been given a definite deadline to respond but added that "patience is not unlimited."
Board of Peace director Nickolay Mladenov told the U.N. Security Council last month that the world should not lose sight of Gaza as a new war flared. He said the choice in Gaza is between "a renewed war, or a new beginning; the status quo, or a better future," adding: "There is no third option."
With added uncertainty over Israel's renewed war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, there could be even less interest from countries to contribute troops to a Gaza stabilization force. One of the few confirmed troop contributors, Indonesia, already has seen three of its peacekeepers in southern Lebanon killed in recent days. Israel made a surprise announcement Thursday authorizing direct negotiations with Lebanon, despite the lack of diplomatic ties.
President Donald Trump's approach to peacemaking appears to be stopping bombardment and leaving the bigger picture for others to work out. The Iran war's two-week ceasefire has already created deadly confusion over Lebanon, with Israel insisting the deal does not apply there and continuing to attack the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, while Iran insists it does and threatens to upend the agreement.
Why This Matters:
The stalled Gaza ceasefire exposes the human cost of international inattention and inconsistent diplomatic pressure. Two million Palestinians remain in humanitarian crisis, dependent on aid that is not arriving at the scale promised. The 80% decline in aid trucks during early March and the continued violence that has killed 738 people since the ceasefire reveal that stopping bombardment alone does not end suffering or create conditions for recovery. Without sustained pressure on Israel to facilitate aid delivery, deployment of international stabilization forces, and coordinated reconstruction efforts, displaced families will continue living in tent camps amid pollution and disease. The diversion of global attention to new conflicts demonstrates how vulnerable civilian populations become when geopolitical priorities shift, leaving fundamental questions of governance, security, and rebuilding unresolved while basic humanitarian needs go unmet.