Gaza erupted in celebration as a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was reached on Thursday. But while there has been an outpouring of joy over the prospect of an end to the genocide, many are skeptical that it’s truly over.
Many in Gaza believe that Trump’s “peace” plan is a ploy to get the Israeli captives released and then resume the genocide. But despite the deep skepticism, desperation to end the war is outweighing everything else.
Every day, when we turn on the news, we thank God we survived the genocide. And every day, we regret it.
As aid trickles into Gaza, famine-related deaths keep rising. The Gaza Health Ministry warns that “mass death” will soon be seen among infants, as mothers feed them “water instead of baby formula.”
As the Israeli invasion of Gaza City advances, al-Shifa Hospital is facing severe shortages of essential medical supplies, leaving patients untreated and vulnerable. Staff and patients fear an imminent Israeli attack.
As the Israeli army’s ground invasion advances into major residential areas in Gaza City, some residents say they’re not moving. “There’s no point in struggling to find a better place in hell,” one resident said.
After leveling Gaza City’s eastern neighborhoods, the Israeli onslaught has entered a new phase as the army flattens high-rise towers in the city’s western areas, where most civilians are sheltering. The goal is to cause a mass exodus.
Local authorities in Gaza have identified a “new strain” of respiratory virus in Gaza amid worsening conditions of famine and severe malnutrition, which threaten to cause even routine infections to turn deadly.
Israel is “managing” the famine in Gaza by targeting aid shipments while allowing some goods to reach local markets only if merchants pay the military an exorbitant fee. The system accomplishes two goals: engineering starvation and creating chaos.
The Israeli army is using airstrikes, rigged explosive APCs, and bulldozing operations to level neighborhoods and displacement centers in Gaza City. Eyewitnesses and local officials say it is to cause mass flight and prevent residents from returning.