Palestinians in Gaza said on Monday Donald Trump’s touting ofa deal aimed at disarming Hamasand ending the war was out of touch with their worsening reality after Israel killed 18 people in one of the deadliest days since a ceasefire last year. The US president on Thursday declared “a major milestone” towards implementing theGazapeace plan agreed last October, saying Hamas would disarm and Israel would withdraw in phases. But complications have swiftly emerged: Israel’s defence minister said on Sunday that Israeli troops in Gaza would not move before Hamas disarms and its tunnels are destroyed, while Hamas insists Israel halt attacks before it begins implementing the part of the agreement dealing with its arms.
On the ground in Gaza, still in ruins as a result of the Israeli offensive launched in retaliation for Hamas’ October 7 2023 attacks, Palestinians say intensifying Israeli strikes in recent days have shattered any hope of progress. It was as if the war had resumed, there was an attack every one hour or less, and the planes struck places across the Gaza Strip, north, central and south, everywhere Israeli troops have occupied and depopulated two thirds of the enclave, leaving nearly all its more than 2-million residents confined to a tiny strip of land along the coast, most in makeshift tents or damaged buildings amid the ruins. “It was as if the war had resumed, there was an attack every one hour or less, and the planes struck places across the Gaza Strip, north, central and south, everywhere,” Aya Mohammad Zaki, 32, told Reuters by phone.
The Palestinians killed on Sunday included a couple and their child in an Israeli strike on a Gaza City apartment. The Israeli military said it targeted military operatives in that and other strikes. Last year’s ceasefire allowed Israeli forces to retain control of 53% of Gaza initially, before eventually withdrawing.
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But Israel has instead expanded its control. Defence minister Israel Katz confirmed on Sunday that the Israeli-held area had reached 60% to 70% as Israeli troops search for tunnels. Soumah Dawla, 60, said that the Israeli-held zone had recently expanded towards her home after she woke up to find yellow bricks laid by Israeli forces to demarcate the territory had been moved closer.
“We are waiting for displacement at any moment. Our entire life is gone, our entire future is gone, and our children’s future is gone,” said Dawla, whose family, like nearly all Gazans, has been displaced multiple times since the war began. Around her, piles of rubble marked what was once a Gaza City neighbourhood. Nearby, her grandchildren played with building blocks on the floor of the tent, an improvised refuge she shares with her husband.
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