Gaza residents face renewed Israeli strikes despite the ceasefire [Image by Al Jazeera]
(The Post News) – The ceasefire may still be printed on paper, but on the ground it increasingly feels like a ghost, just an agreement invoked more to justify violence than to prevent it.
A fragile ceasefire in Gaza shattered again on Wednesday when Israeli strikes killed 28 Palestinians, including 17 women and children, according to Palestinian medical officials. Israel said militants fired at its forces near Khan Younis, while Hamas denied the accusation, warning that Israel seeks a pretext for renewed aggression.
The most recent attack is evidence that the ceasefire has become a tool of escalation, rather than protection. Israel says it “enforces” the truce through strikes; Palestinians say Israel uses the agreement to justify continuous attacks.
Ceasefire Turns into a Weapon
Israel insists Wednesday’s strikes responded to gunfire that violated the agreement. Hamas rejected that claim and called the assault “a dangerous escalation.”
Inside Gaza, the word ceasefire rings hollow. Locals speak of an unendurable rhythm: tense quiet, punctuated by sudden booms.
“It’s like the ceasefire protects everybody except us,” said a paramedic who works at Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital. “Bombs keep falling while the world hears that the situation is stable.”
Israel also struck targets in southern Lebanon, targeting what it said were depots of Hezbollah weapons. The attacks raised fears of a wider regional confrontation. Diplomats warn that the conflict now sits one mistake away from spiraling beyond Gaza and Lebanon.
The escalation comes just days after the UN Security Council endorsed a US-backed plan designed to stabilize Gaza. According to analysts, the new strikes undermine the agreement before it can take effect.
“If no one enforces the ceasefire, the plan collapses,” said Khaled Elgindy of the Quincy Institute. “This isn’t peacemaking, this is war under a different headline.”
Gaza’s Darkening Reality
Images from Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital show families mourning over body bags, some of which contained more than one child. In Zeitoun, rescuers pulled out a mother, father, and their three children from the rubble of a collapsed building.
“The ceasefire didn’t save my daughter,” said one bereaved father.
As the death toll rises past 69,000 Palestinians since October 2023, many in Gaza believe that the ceasefire only masks a continuing war. The nights now lasted longer. The explosions grew louder. The feeling that the darkest days had already arrived only deepened.
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