Israel stepped up attacks on Gaza after the Iran truce, with shelling, drone strikes and gunfire continuing near the armistice line and casualties reported among militants and civilians. Reuters said most of the strikes hit Hamas-controlled areas, while the military kept operating at a relentless pace after joining the United States in bombing Iran since March.
Who Pays for the “Ceasefire”
The people at the bottom are still the ones absorbing the damage. Reuters reported that shelling, drone strikes and gunfire near the armistice line continued, and that casualties included militants and civilians. The language of ceasefire and truce sits on top of a reality where civilians are still being killed and families are living in fear.
Nickolay Mladenov, director-general of the Board of Peace, said after meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday that "Seven months since the ceasefire, the door to Gaza's future is still closed." That line lands harder than any official statement about peace. The gatekeepers keep the gate shut, and everyone below is told to wait.
Mladenov said, "This is not what was promised to the Palestinians, and it is not what they deserve," and added, "Furthermore, this does not provide Israel with the security it needs to move forward – as the Israeli public also wants." The promise machine keeps running, but the results remain the same: restrictions, fear, and a future still controlled from above.
What They Call Order
Mladenov said, "There is a ceasefire, and it holds, but it is not perfect. It is far from perfect. There are violations every day, some of which are very serious and significant. And let’s be honest about these violations and what they actually mean: the meaning is that civilians are still being killed. Families are living in fear. Delays and restrictions continue to affect humanitarian access and the daily lives of many Palestinians." The official vocabulary of process and stability does not erase the daily violence built into the arrangement.
He also said, "We are asking the political leadership currently managing Gaza to step aside. This is required by the Security Council decision and the 20-point plan. For those who respect the law and carry out their work, there is room in the new structure. For those who cannot accept this framework, the plan offers safe passage to third-world countries." The new structure is presented as neutral administration, but it is still a structure imposed from above, with compliance rewarded and refusal pushed out.
Mladenov said, "We are not asking Hamas to disappear as a political movement. As a political movement or as a political party that renounces armed activity, it can participate in Palestinian national elections. This roadmap preserves this possibility." But he also said, "what is not negotiable is the existence of armed factions or militias with their own command and control structures, with their own weapon caches or tunnel networks, alongside the transition to Palestinian Authority rule – this is not a political demand. It is a necessary condition of the process."
Reconstruction, Managed From Above
On Gaza's reconstruction, Mladenov said, "Reconstruction planning is already in an advanced stage. We are working sector by sector. We are publishing plans, coordinating with donors, and are ready to start in earnest once conditions allow. In fact, our forecasts are that tens of thousands of jobs in the public sector will be created during the first phase." The future is being drafted in offices, coordinated with donors, and packaged as relief.
When asked when the technocratic government, the National Committee in official terms, would enter Gaza, Mladenov replied, "This is not an announcement of coercion. I want to be very clear. It is exactly the opposite of coercion. It offers the Palestinians in Gaza, for the first time in a long time, a real choice. The National Committee is ready to enter, govern, and protect wherever coercion is removed, and the conditions are right." That is the language of managed consent: governance first, choice later, and only once the coercion has been renamed into something cleaner.
The Jerusalem Post also reported that the Board of Peace chief said the door to Gaza's future remained closed despite the ceasefire after meeting Netanyahu. Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Israel has joined the United States in bombing Iran since March, with the military operating at a relentless pace. The machinery keeps moving, and the people underneath keep paying for it.