DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Six months after a ceasefire took effect in Gaza on Oct. 10, 2025, the core objectives of the agreement remain largely unmet, with critical tasks including disarming Hamas, ending its two-decade rule, deploying an international stabilization force, and beginning reconstruction still pending. Gaza residents face continued limbo as limited aid enters through a single, Israeli-controlled border post, raising questions about the sustainability of agreements that halt fighting without addressing underlying governance and security challenges.
The stalled progress in Gaza could foreshadow outcomes in the Iran war ceasefire, as President Donald Trump's approach to peacemaking appears focused on stopping bombardment while leaving broader political and institutional questions for others to resolve. Whether this strategy can succeed with Iran, given more actors in play and global markets responding to every statement, remains uncertain.
Diplomatic Confusion and Security Challenges
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 attacks on the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, while Iran insists it does and threatens to upend the agreement. Israel made a surprise announcement Thursday authorizing direct negotiations with Lebanon, despite the lack of diplomatic ties.
The U.S.-created and Trump-led Board of Peace launched with $7 billion in pledges and sweeping intentions of resolving not only Gaza but other conflicts that emerge around the world. However, nine days after the board's initial meeting, the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran. The Board of Peace has not met again and is still waiting for Hamas to respond to its proposal on disarming, which would represent a major concession and perhaps the hardest step. Hamas' charter calls for destroying Israel.
A U.S. official said Hamas has not been given a definite deadline to respond to the proposal but added that "patience is not unlimited." The official was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. 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," and added: "There is no third option."
Humanitarian Conditions Deteriorate
Six months into the Gaza ceasefire, little beyond the largely silenced explosions has changed. Vast tent camps house most of the territory's 2 million people. Other residents shelter in damaged apartment buildings. Health workers and other humanitarian workers say there has been little progress in the expected surge of medical supplies and other aid.
The U.S. 20-point ceasefire plan for Gaza is largely failing on the humanitarian front, five international aid groups said in a scorecard released Thursday. They said conditions have deteriorated further in Gaza since the Iran war began. The aid groups said that 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.
Palestinians expressed fading hopes for any immediate improvement in their lives. Maysa Abu Jedian, a displaced woman from Beit Lahiya, said, "There is pollution and disease. It's as if there's no ceasefire at all." Eyad Abu Dagga, also sheltering in a camp in Khan Younis, said, "The war is still ongoing and life is still terrible as it is."
Ongoing Violence 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 that and other ceasefire violations.
As of Thursday, Israeli attacks have killed 738 people in the six months since the ceasefire, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The ministry, part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. It does not give a breakdown of civilians and militants. 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 Focus Shifts
Unwavering focus on Gaza, once at the heart of a 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 says any forward movement on aid issues in the Palestinian territory 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 is not the only player to be distracted. The entire Middle East, including key Gaza mediators Egypt and Qatar, now focuses on Iran and that war's effects on their economies. 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.
Why This Matters:
The Gaza ceasefire's failure to deliver on core security and humanitarian objectives after six months demonstrates the limits of agreements that halt fighting without resolving fundamental governance questions. Hamas remains armed and in control after two decades of rule, while the 80% decline in aid deliveries during March 2026 shows deteriorating conditions despite international pledges. The Board of Peace's $7 billion commitment and ambitious mandate have yielded no meetings since the Iran war began, raising fiscal accountability questions about pledged resources. For regional stability, the pattern of incomplete ceasefires could repeat in Iran and Lebanon, where similar confusion already threatens renewed conflict. The lack of sustained diplomatic pressure and the shift of mediator attention to Iran suggests that without clear benchmarks for disarmament and governance transition, ceasefire agreements may simply freeze conflicts rather than resolve them, leaving populations in limbo and terrorist organizations intact.