By Vijay Prashad

Author Biography: This article was produced for Globetrotter . Vijay Prashad is an Indian historian, editor, and journalist. He is a staff member and chief correspondent for Globetrotter. He is editor-in-chief of LeftWord Books and director of the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research . He has written more than 20 books, including Dark Nations and Poor Nations . His most recent books are Struggle Makes Us Human: Learning from Movements for Socialism , The Withdrawal: Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and the Fragility of American Power , and On Cuba: 70 Years of Revolution and Struggle (the latter two co-authored with Noam Chomsky).

Source: Globetrotter

In January 19, 2025, a ceasefire intended to halt Israeli bombing of the Palestinian population in Gaza came into effect. This ceasefire was the result of a mediation process by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States, which had been formalized in June 2024 with UN Security Council Resolution 2735. However, Israel rejected the agreement and waited until Donald Trump won the US presidential election to move forward (thus allowing Trump to claim credit for the pact).

However, Israel did not fully withdraw from Gaza, nor did it cease its attacks, nor did it allow humanitarian aid to enter. Despite the “ceasefire,” the genocide against the Palestinian people continued. One month after the ceasefire began, it was already evident that Israel had committed at least 265 violations of the agreement (including home demolitions, ground incursions, and shootings of civilians). During that same period, the United Nations found that81% of Gaza was under the control of the Israeli army or subject to arbitrary displacement orders imposed by Israel.

That first ceasefire ended in March and only began again in October 2025. In the interim, Israel took advantage of the situation to once again devastate Gaza without facing any criticism from its main allies in Europe and the United States, who continued to arm Israel. The second “ceasefire” has been just as ineffective as the first: between October 10 and December 22, Israel violated its terms 875 times.

Thus, there is a ceasefire in Gaza only insofar as the intensity of the bombings has decreased, but there is no ceasefire in substantive terms, as Israel’s genocidal campaign of pressure against the Palestinian population continues.

It is important to assess the situation on the ground in Gaza. Facts matter, and it is crucial that UN agencies have resumed their basic humanitarian work, which includes gathering data on the problems facing the Palestinian people. Here I rely heavily on UN data, particularly that of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East ( UNRWA ), which is itself being targeted by Israel for being an obstacle to its extermination campaign. For clarity, I present below a brief overview of four main areas of life in Gaza (some of the data is based on the UN dashboard for monitoring UN Security Council Resolution 2720 ):

Displacement and housing

In March 2025, UNRWA estimated that 92% of all homes in Gaza had been destroyed or severely damaged. As a result, Gaza’s 2.1 million surviving residents have been living in UN-run displacement camps or in tents and makeshift shelters erected in destroyed buildings. The UN Mine Action Service warns that the rubble is littered with unexploded Israeli bombs and that it would take 20 to 30 years to clear them. Heavy rains this winter have flooded the tents, leading to a severe crisis of acute respiratory infections, diarrhea, and hepatitis.

The ceasefire agreement stipulated that Israel, which controls the border, would allow 600 aid trucks per day into Gaza. However, between October and December, Israel only allowed an average of 216 trucks per day, according to the UN Resolution 2720 Monitoring and Control Panel. This shortfall is one of the main reasons why the food, water, and fuel situation in Gaza remains critical. Three sentences from a recent UN report deserve widespread attention: first, that “at least 1.6 million people—77% of the population—continue to face high levels of acute food insecurity in the Gaza Strip, including more than 100,000 children and 37,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women”; Second, that “nutrient-rich foods, particularly proteins, remain scarce and prohibitively expensive, leaving 79% of households unable to buy food or access clean drinking water,” and third, that “no child achieves the minimum dietary diversity and two-thirds experience severe food poverty, consuming only one or two food groups” (out of the five food groups).

Health care

By December 2025, Gaza’s health infrastructure remained severely deteriorated. Many hospitals and clinics were damaged or only partially operational, with critical shortages of medicines and supplies, frequent disruptions to fuel and electricity, and service availability far below pre-conflict levels. UN agencies described the conditions as fragile, overburdened, and on the verge of collapse. The Gaza Health Cluster Bulletin provides relevant data, with the most recent report noting that “ongoing military operations continue to exacerbate several previously detailed operational constraints, including persistent restrictions on access to program sites and severely limited entry of essential medical supplies, along with the constant threat of deregistration for international NGOs.” Even so, amidst the ruins of Al-Shifa Hospital, 168 Palestinian doctors graduated on Christmas Day.

Education

The United Nations Education Cluster reports that over 97% of schools in Gaza have been damaged and that only 38% of school-age children have had access to any form of education in the past two years. More than 700,000 Palestinian children have lost their right to education, including 658,000 who have already missed two full academic years. Around 71,000 students in Gaza were unable to take the General Secondary Education Examinations ( Tawjihi ) and are therefore ineligible for higher education.

Basic life has not yet been restored, nor has the capacity of Palestinians to reactivate their political institutions. No real progress can be made toward ending the genocide and occupation while Israel continues to prevent Palestinian leaders from different factions from rebuilding their political institutions. During this so-called “ceasefire,” Israel has assassinated several prominent Palestinian political leaders, including Issam al-Da’alis (Hamas Government Administrative Committee), Mahmoud Abu Watfa (Minister of the Interior), and Huthayfa al-Kahlout (spokesperson for the al-Qassam Brigades), and continues to imprison leaders such as Marwan Barghouti (Fatah) and Ahmad Sa’adat (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine). Israel’s insistence on Hamas disarmament demonstrates Tel Aviv’s lack of seriousness in negotiating in any direction.

This is a ceasefire and yet it isn’t . It’s true that the intensity of the bombing has decreased, and that’s a relief; but it’s not a relief for daily life, especially if there’s no end in sight beyond the expectation of the next atrocity.