It’s one year since the US-brokered ceasefire for Gaza formally came into effect. On October 9 2025, Hamas handed over the 20 remaining hostages and the bodies of four Israelis who had died while being held captive. In return, Israel released almost 2,000 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

The ceasefire officially began the following day, October 10, and humanitarian aid began to trickle into the beleaguered Palestinian territory. The UN security council formally endorsed the 20-point plan for the ceasefire and reconstruction of Gaza with Resolution 2803 on November 17.

At the time, the US president hailed it on his TruthSocial platform as “a moment of true historic proportion”. Yet 12 months on, the Israeli army continues to occupy Gaza, the Palestinian death toll continues to climb, and there is no sign of any lasting resolution.

By any possible metric, the situation in Gaza is catastrophic. About 94% of the population are in need of shelter – that’s nearly 2 million people. More than 1.4 million face crisis-level hunger or worse.

There’s a plague of rats and other vermin biting children and spreading disease. This is because three years of Israeli military assault has almost completely destroyed Gaza’s sanitation infrastructure, while also leaving much of the population with inadequate access to clean water.

Much of Gaza remains in ruins. Israel has destroyed 92% of its housing, 95% of its........

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