- by Peter Farmer
- The Guardian
- Issue #2201
What did 100 days of ceasefire bring to Gaza? Graphic: Al Mayadeen
Gaza has slipped from the headlines of most mainstream media outlets, but the killing continues and the aftermath of previous assaults is ongoing.
ORPHANS
Since Israel began the offensive in October 2023, 60,737 minors have been orphaned. That figure includes 52,095 minors who lost their father, 5,929 children who lost their mother, and 2,713 children who have been left completely orphaned.
Aid workers have learned the grisly shorthand for injured orphans WCNSF, standing for ‘wounded child, no surviving family.’
It’s extremely difficult to keep track of children separated from their families in Gaza, due to the long list of bombings and evacuation orders since 2023. Gaza has been recorded as having the highest rate of child amputations in any modern conflict.
According to United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF, 22,000 children have been killed since October 2023, with tens of thousands more injured, many with life-changing injuries.
That should come as no surprise. The deputy speaker of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, has said that “every child born there (in Gaza) is already a terrorist, from the moment of his birth.” As lawyer Michael Bradley has written, Israel considers Palestinian children fair game.
AID
The Israeli war on aid workers continues. United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) which provides aid to Palestinians across the Middle East has reported that between 7 October 2023 and 24 July 2026, 393 of its workers were killed in Gaza. That includes 393 UNRWA staff and 82 people who were supporting them.
‘CEASEFIRE’
Since the ceasefire supposedly took effect in October 2025, Zionist forces have killed at least 1,209 people. The death toll, however, has reached at least 73,335 since October 2023.
US President Donald Trump announced on 31 July that the ‘Board of Peace’ had reached what he described as a “historic agreement” for the complete disarmament of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza, calling it a major milestone in implementing the so-called Sharm El-Sheikh peace framework.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the agreement would be implemented through “carefully structured phases,” with Israeli occupation forces withdrawing progressively as disarmament advances. He said an International Stabilisation Force would work alongside a newly established Palestinian police force to assume responsibility for maintaining security in Gaza.
According to Trump, the agreement is intended to pave the way for Gaza to be governed by a new Palestinian government that would cooperate with the ‘Board of Peace’ while ensuring that the territory “is no longer used as a base for terror attacks.”
Trump likes triumphant announcements, but the reality is very different. Israeli military aggression continues across the Gaza Strip, including airstrikes, explosions, the demolition of residential homes and the burning of tents for displaced persons, according to local reports.
In the latest incident, the Israeli military bombed a building in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. Al Mayadeen’s correspondent in Gaza reported that 10 people were injured in an Israeli strike on a residential building east of the Nuseirat camp in the central Strip.
Hours earlier, civilians were injured in an attack by Israeli aircraft near the Islamic Bank in Deir al-Balah, according to the correspondent.
The Political Bureau of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said the parties were in the “final metres” of reaching an agreement that would end the Israeli war on Gaza and pave the way for reconstruction. The movement stressed that sustained pressure remains necessary to ensure the agreement is implemented in full and to prevent Israel from reneging on its commitments.
The PFLP also reiterated its call for the full implementation of the ceasefire agreement, the reopening of Gaza’s crossings, the entry of humanitarian aid, and the immediate assumption of responsibilities by the administrative committee in the Strip, while emphasising the need to reject any form of external control over the Palestinian people.
Separately, Gaza’s Health Ministry condemned what it described as a direct Israeli attack on medication warehouses at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza.
The ministry said two of the facility’s four medical warehouses were completely destroyed, while the remaining two sustained extensive damage. The adjacent outpatient building was also damaged in the strike.
According to the ministry, the attack destroyed and damaged vital medical supplies and consumables intended for patients and the wounded.
The bombardment also caused panic among patients, their families, and medical staff inside the hospital complex.
Describing the attack as “a systematic crime targeting what remains of Gaza’s healthcare system,” the ministry said it comes amid Israel’s continued blockade on medicines and medical supplies and ongoing restrictions preventing thousands of wounded and sick Palestinians from travelling abroad for treatment.
The ministry called on the international community, the United Nations, and humanitarian organisations to intervene urgently to halt attacks on Gaza’s healthcare system and ensure protection for medical facilities and personnel.
‘AGREEMENT’
A major hitch to the ‘agreement’ is that it stipulates that Israel has to withdraw from Gaza and transfer power to a Palestinian administration. Israel’s far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir objected to a requirement that Israel stop assassinating Hamas members. He declared that “the assassinations in Gaza must continue, the encouragement of immigration must happen. Israel must win.”
The draft agreement was also condemned by Gadi Eisenkot, a former army chief of staff predicted to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Eisenkot has said that Israel “must not accept” the agreement.
Gazans are sceptical about any agreement, and with good reason. One Al Jazeera correspondent said that the main concern of people on the streets of Gaza was not whether an agreement had been announced but “will the bombing continue? Will people be able to walk down the street and visit each other without the constant fear of being attacked by the drone?”
AUSTRALIA’S ROLE
The Australian government likes to play both sides of the street on Gaza. It knows Australians are angry about Israel’s ongoing act of genocidal collective punishment of Palestinian civilians, in Gaza and on the West Bank. The government noticed the record breaking pro-Palestine demonstrations, even as mainstream media in this country sought to minimise, ridicule or demonise those protests.
On the other hand, the Labor government wants to keep the US and the pro-Israel lobby on side.
The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese put out an official statement one year ago, saying that “every innocent life matters.”
Fine words from a government that employs the Israeli arms company Elbit systems to the tune of $917 million. Elbit manufactured the drone that killed an Australian aid worker, Zomi Frankcom. Australia also is part of a weapons chain that produces the F-35 fighters Israel uses to bomb Gaza (as well as Lebanon and Iran).
This year it was revealed that raw explosives produced in Victoria and NSW wind up in munitions that are used in Gaza. There’s also the matter of Pine Gap, the US-owned and run radar facility in the centre of Australia. It provides intelligence to Israel and the US that is vital to accurate targeting of bombs and missiles.
It’s vital that Australians who care about peace, and who don’t want this country to be implicated in war crimes keep up the pressure on the government.
