It has been nearly two months since a ceasefire deal was agreed for Gaza, and a little over a fortnight since the approval of a UN Security Council resolution authorising several steps to convert that ceasefire into long-term peace. And yet, the fighting continues, with the Palestinian death toll having crossed 70,000 over the weekend. All indicators point to this war extending into 2026.
Worse still, it is all too possible that Gaza will be cleaved in two. The so-called “yellow line” of withdrawal separates Israeli-controlled areas, where only a few thousand of Gaza’s two million residents live, from the heavily populated areas still under Palestinian control. The line, marked by yellow, concrete blocks, is meant to be a temporary measure that contains Israeli soldiers while Hamas disarms. Yet, on the Palestinian-controlled side of the line, Hamas remains not only armed, but in charge.
Israel, meanwhile, has shown little respect for the terms of the ceasefire nor restraint in its treatment of Palestinians; many of the yellow blocks have been planted hundreds of metres further into Palestinian-controlled areas than they should have, and more than 350 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the ceasefire began. Two of the deaths happened on Saturday, when an Israeli drone killed two children who are believed to have crossed the yellow line in search of firewood.
At the same time, no firm reconstruction plan for Gaza has materialised, despite considerable diplomatic effort – particularly from Arab states – to create one. Israel says the sticking point is Hamas’s refusal to disarm, but Hamas’s intransigence – while a significant problem – is only one part of the picture. The extent of the damage Israeli forces have wrought in Gaza, as well as their continued restrictions on aid and supplies entering the territory, has created a physical, economic and political mess that will take years to undo. Reconstruction will also demand enormous investment which, in turn, requires stable conditions in order to flow. And stability means a commitment from Israel that it will not work to prevent Palestinians from having a secure, sovereign future.
Such a commitment is apparent neither in Gaza nor in the West Bank. In the latter, there is no war but instead a steady and pernicious erosion of Palestinian rights under the force of an ongoing, illegal occupation. On Friday, a video emerged of an Israeli raid in which two Palestinian militants in Jenin were shot dead minutes after surrendering. Although the men were not civilians, their killing under the circumstances appeared to be nothing less than summary execution – a violation of international laws as well as Israel’s self-professed protocols.
Indeed, while the West Bank is not officially a conflict zone, it has, in many ways, taken on the character of one. The number of Palestinians killed there since October 7, 2023, exceeds the previous five years combined.
Pope Leo, who is on a visit to Lebanon, told reporters aboard his flight to Beirut on Sunday that the “only solution” to the conflict is a Palestinian state. He is right. Instead, what we are seeing is a growing fragmentation of Palestinian territory and, with it, the dwindling of any hope of a better future for Palestinians.
