One year after a US-brokered ceasefire was declared in the Gaza Strip, residents continue to endure severe hardship as Israeli air strikes persist and large portions of the territory remain under Israeli control. Despite a reduction in the intensity of attacks, approximately 70 percent of Gaza is still controlled by Israel, and the promised reconstruction of the devastated Palestinian region has yet to begin.

Displaced Palestinians living in makeshift camps report that the truce has failed to deliver the anticipated peace and relief. Fatima Awkal, a displaced resident of Gaza City, said conditions have deteriorated rather than improved. “Martyrs are still falling, people are still being injured, the shelling continues, and we cannot even find a moment’s peace from the constant buzzing of the drones overhead,” she stated.

In Gaza City, the landscape remains marked by destruction, with white tents lining cleared passageways amidst damaged buildings with shattered windows. Many displaced families, including 51-year-old Ahmed Jonaid, have not been able to return home as hoped. “We thought we would experience some happiness and return to our homes. Instead, we see ourselves suffering in refugee camps, sleeping on makeshift mats,” he said.

The 2023 conflict, initiated by an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel, displaced nearly all of Gaza’s more than two million residents at least once. United Nations data from mid-2026 indicates that 82 percent of standing structures in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed. Overcrowded conditions in temporary shelters, coupled with poor sanitation, have led to outbreaks of disease, compounding the humanitarian crisis.

Medical professionals in Gaza also express frustration at the lack of real progress since the ceasefire. Ahmed Shawan, a doctor in Khan Younis, said, “It has been a full year since the ceasefire was declared, yet it exists only on paper.”

The ceasefire agreement included provisions for a political transition aimed at ending Hamas’s rule in Gaza. Technocrat Ali Shaath was appointed to lead a National Committee for Gaza’s administration, but Hamas continues to maintain control over security, and Shaath has remained largely inactive. An International Stabilisation Force involving five countries, including Morocco, was intended to help manage the post-war phase, but no deployment has yet occurred.

Israel controls all entry points to Gaza, permitting only limited aid shipments. This constraint has driven up the prices of basic goods, further burdening ordinary residents. Ismail Hamouda, a 47-year-old displaced father from northern Gaza’s Jabaliya area now living in Gaza City, described ongoing shortages of clean water, food, and financial support. “We thought that after a year of ceasefire things would improve and get better,” he said. “Unfortunately, the situation is worsening gradually … and we are still displaced.”