A year into Gaza ceasefire, strikes continue as terms remain unresolved

One year after the Gaza ceasefire took effect, major military operations had halted and the remaining hostages had been freed, but Israeli strikes continued and key political and security arrangements remained unsettled. The Associated Press reported the anniversary assessment on October 10, 2026, a year after the ceasefire began.

The agreement brought an end to major military operations and increased humanitarian access, according to AP. But the anniversary account found that the planned transition to a Palestinian administration, deployment of an international stabilization force, Hamas disarmament and Israeli withdrawal had not been implemented. Israel controlled more than half of Gaza, AP reported.

Disarmament and withdrawal remain disputed

The initial plan called for a Palestinian administrative committee to take over governance from Hamas and for an international stabilization force. It also included Hamas disarmament and Israeli withdrawal. At the one-year mark, those arrangements remained unresolved, while AP reported that almost nothing had been rebuilt.

A follow-on disarmament arrangement was announced in July as an extension of the original ceasefire. The parties differed over how its steps should be carried out. Hamas linked disarmament to an Israeli withdrawal and an end to strikes. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would not withdraw until Hamas was completely disarmed, and AP reported that he rejected the arrangement announced by President Donald Trump.

The Trump administration and Hamas favored carrying out disarmament and withdrawal-related steps simultaneously, AP reported. That position differs from Netanyahu’s stated condition for withdrawal. The competing positions leave the sequence and conditions unsettled; the anniversary account identified no mutually accepted implementation timetable.

The stalled political arrangements coincide with continued strikes and a lack of substantial reconstruction. The ceasefire’s initial effects—including the end of major military operations, the return of remaining hostages and increased aid access—did not settle who would govern Gaza or how security and withdrawal provisions would be carried out.

Reported casualties and displacement

Gaza’s Health Ministry attributed more than 1,400 Palestinian deaths to Israeli strikes since the ceasefire began, AP reported. Human Rights Watch, citing the ministry, reported at least 1,400 killed and 4,881 wounded over the same period. The figures are attributed to the ministry and have not been independently verified for each death.

AP also reported that five Israeli soldiers were killed in sporadic attacks during the year. Israel has said its strikes targeted people it accused of violating the ceasefire or approaching the Israeli-held line. AP reported that strikes had often killed civilians; the stated rationale is Israel’s account of those targets, not an adjudicated finding.

Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians continued to face displacement, with most living in tents, rubble or war-damaged buildings, AP reported. Human Rights Watch assessed that aid access remained limited and inconsistent and called for civilian protection and reconstruction. That assessment came alongside AP’s report that access had increased after the ceasefire began.

Unsafe, damaged structures also remained a danger. On September 16, a war-damaged building collapsed in the Tal al-Hawa area, killing 21 people and injuring dozens, according to Gaza Civil Defence as reported by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.