On the first anniversary of a ceasefire deal, Israel is still carrying out deadly strikes in Gaza. Almost nothing has been rebuilt, and the territory’s 2 million Palestinians remain in limbo. The agreement halted major military operations, freed all remaining hostages and increased humanitarian access. But its promises—a new Palestinian administration, Hamas’ disarmament and an end to Israeli control over more than half of Gaza—remain unfulfilled.
Most Palestinians shelter in rodent-infested tent camps, among rubble in their former neighborhoods or in war-damaged buildings at risk of collapse. That’s the human cost of an agreement whose signatories haven’t settled who controls Gaza or when Israeli forces will leave.
Promises, with conditions attached
The 20-point agreement followed months of negotiations under the Biden and Trump administrations. It called for Hamas to transfer power to a committee of Palestinian administrators vetted by the Board of Peace, a new body chaired by Trump and charged with implementing the ceasefire.
Hamas officially dissolved its government in July but left the civil service intact. It remains the dominant power in roughly 40% of Gaza not controlled by the Israeli military. Israel has barred the new Palestinian administration from entering Gaza through Egypt.
The proposed International Stabilization Force, announced in February, hasn’t materialized. Indonesia had pledged the largest contingent, 8,000 soldiers, but put those plans on hold last spring as attention shifted to the Iran war. The international machinery assigned to implement the deal remains largely on paper.
Israel was supposed to withdraw from Gaza. Instead, Israeli forces have taken more territory, pushing the so-called yellow Line of Control west toward the Mediterranean Sea. They regularly strike people accused of violating the ceasefire, approaching the yellow line or participating in the Oct. 7 attack. Those attacks have often killed civilians.
The Gaza Health Ministry says Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,400 Palestinians since the ceasefire took effect. During the same period, sporadic attacks have killed five Israeli soldiers in Gaza.
Disarmament first—or withdrawal first?
Israel has tied progress on the agreement’s commitments to Hamas’ complete disarmament. Hamas and the Trump administration say the steps should happen simultaneously. In July, Trump announced a disarmament deal he described as a breakthrough. The agreement called for Hamas to disarm “in a gradual, sequential and time-bound manner,” linked to an Israeli withdrawal in phases. Hamas confirmed for the first time that it had agreed to disarm, while also tying that process to Israel halting strikes and withdrawing.
Days later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel wouldn’t withdraw from any part of Gaza until Hamas had been completely disarmed, rejecting the agreement Trump had announced. The powers tasked with carrying out the ceasefire still contest its conditions. Palestinians continue to live amid strikes, displacement and destruction.
Hamas-led militants began the war with their Oct. 7, 2023, attack, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 abducted. Israel’s extensive bombardment and ground invasion have killed more than 74,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, says women and children make up around half the dead and doesn’t distinguish civilians from militants. U.N. agencies and independent experts consider its detailed records generally reliable.
Netanyahu hardened his position over the summer ahead of Oct. 27 elections that could end his nearly unbroken 17-year rule. Critics have accused him of security and intelligence failures leading up to the attack; opponents say he’s been soft on Hamas. The political contest has left little room for even minor compromises on Gaza, at least until a new government forms. That process could take months.
At the summit marking the deal, Trump called it a chance to put “old feuds and bitter hatreds behind us.” Hamas remains weakened but in power. Almost nothing has been rebuilt, and a return to fighting can’t be ruled out.