The sombre reality on the ground speaks for itself.

It is now plain as day that the much-touted ceasefire in Gaza is a misnomer. A sorry excuse for a truce that has created the dangerous illusion that life for the population in the devastated enclave has returned to normal.

An illusion it is, for Israeli forces "are still committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza by continuing to deliberately inflict conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction," Amnesty International asserted in a report released last month. 

This included, the report added, the calculated impediments placed on the delivery of humanitarian aid and the lethal bombing of civilian targets, both prohibited by the ceasefire agreement.

In short, Israel's genocidal war has not ended. It has simply changed in tempo. The gratuitous killing of civilians has not stopped, nor has the use of starvation as a weapon of war. 

The nightmarish horrors we have grown accustomed to watching daily over the last two years in this little, tormented strip of land show no sign of abatement. 

One would only raise serious doubts about the professional skills of one's optometrist to argue otherwise.

A mirage called peace

Just over two months since this ceasefire was signed on October 10, more than 400 Palestinians have been slaughtered, including dozens of children. An additional 100 or more children died of malnutrition and hypothermia. 

In one day alone, on October 19, Israel's military carried out several airstrikes across different parts of the enclave, killing 53 Palestinian men and 12 children. 

The airstrikes came in response to what the Israeli military claimed was an........

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