Israeli forces now control about 70 percent of Gaza, up from the 53 percent allowed under the ceasefire, and have pushed the so-called yellow Line of Control westward toward the Mediterranean Sea. On the agreement’s first anniversary, Israel continues near-daily strikes, while virtually nothing has been rebuilt.
Territory Under Israeli Control
The ceasefire agreement called for Israel to withdraw from Gaza. Instead, Israel has seized more territory, according to official accounts. The agreement’s longer-term plans—including an end to Israel’s control over more than half of Gaza—remain unfulfilled.
Israeli forces regularly strike people they accuse of violating the ceasefire, approaching the yellow line or taking part in the October 7 attack. These strikes often kill civilians. The Gaza Health Ministry says Israeli strikes have killed about 1,450 Palestinians since the ceasefire took effect. The United Nations considers the ministry’s figures accurate. Sporadic attacks have also killed five Israeli soldiers in Gaza during the same period.
Israel has barred the new Palestinian administration from entering Gaza via Egypt. The agreement called for Hamas to transfer power to a committee of Palestinian administrators vetted by the Board of Peace, chaired by US President Donald Trump and tasked with implementing the ceasefire.
Hamas announced in July that it was disbanding its governing body and handing Gaza’s administration to the US-blessed National Committee for the Administration of Gaza. It officially dissolved its government but left the civil service intact. Hamas remains the dominant power in roughly 40 percent of Gaza not controlled by the Israeli military and effectively remains in charge of security. Ali Shaath, appointed head of the committee, has kept a low profile.
Strikes Continue as Disarmament Stalls
Hamas confirmed for the first time that it had agreed to disarm, linking the step to Israel halting its strikes and withdrawing from Gaza. The July deal called for disarmament “in a gradual, sequential and time-bound manner” linked to an Israeli withdrawal in phases. Hamas hasn’t disarmed, and Israel has refused to begin withdrawing its forces.
Israel has tied progress on other issues to Hamas’ complete disarmament, while Hamas and the Trump administration say the steps should happen simultaneously. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel wouldn’t withdraw from any part of Gaza until Hamas was completely disarmed, rejecting the agreement Trump had announced. Netanyahu has demanded verifiable decommissioning of all weapons down to individual guns.
The planned International Stabilization Force, announced in February, still hasn’t materialized. Indonesia, which pledged the largest contingent of 8,000 soldiers, put its plans on hold last spring as the world’s focus shifted to the Iran war.
Palestinians Remain Displaced
The agreement halted major military operations, freed the remaining hostages and increased humanitarian access. Three days after the ceasefire was announced, Hamas freed the 20 remaining living hostages seized in the October 7, 2023, attack. The agreement also led to the return of all remaining hostages. Hamas hasn’t launched rocket attacks on Israel since the ceasefire anniversary; near-constant Israeli bombardment depleted its missile inventory and damaged or destroyed the vast majority of buildings in Gaza.
The stalled process has left Gaza’s 2 million Palestinians in limbo. Most shelter in rodent-infested tent camps, the rubble of former neighborhoods or war-damaged buildings at risk of collapse. In Jabaliya, Abdullah Abu Zubaida’s family lives in a makeshift shelter built from the debris of their house. “When the ceasefire began last October, we expected the war to halt, assassinations to cease, and aid to flow in,” he said. “None of that has happened.”
Ne’man Abu Jarad and his family were displaced from Beit Lahia to Khan Younis and have no clear path home. They still live in tents with their five daughters. “The ceasefire is merely nominal, ink on paper,” Abu Jarad said.
Trump called for “a new era of harmony in the Middle East” at a summit marking the deal. The Board of Peace proposed a $2.45 billion Gaza recovery plan in September, intended to span over six months. Gulf allies have pledged additional funds, but no money is known to have reached reconstruction in Gaza.