DaysofPal – What began as a momentary sense of relief for Gaza’s war-weary population after the ceasefire on October 10 has quickly dissolved into terror and despair. Israeli warplanes once again filled the skies, unleashing a new wave of attacks that left entire families buried beneath the rubble.
Throughout the night, the sound of explosions echoed across Gaza City. Fighter jets, drones, and reconnaissance aircraft hovered overhead as massive bombs struck residential neighborhoods, lighting up the skyline and reviving the horror of the war’s earliest weeks.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, Israeli air raids from Tuesday to Wednesday killed at least 104 Palestinians and wounded 253 others, including dozens of women and children. Of the 42 people killed in central Gaza, 18 belonged to a single family, three generations wiped out in an instant: children, their parents, and grandparents.
Hospitals, already struggling under shortages of fuel and medical supplies, were overwhelmed. Corridors filled with stretchers and grieving relatives as the wounded, many soaked in blood, were rushed in. Medical staff described scenes of chaos and heartbreak.
The brief hope that the ceasefire would bring a measure of peace has evaporated. Instead, Gaza’s residents once again face the familiar terror of bombardment. “If a ceasefire looks like this,” one resident said, “what does war look like?”
International organizations voiced alarm over the renewed violence. Save the Children called reports of children killed alongside their families “excruciating.”
“This cannot become the new normal under a ceasefire,” said Ahmad Alhendawi, the organization’s Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe. “A lasting ceasefire must mean safety, relief, and recovery for children, not continued suffering. It must be fully respected and upheld.”
Alhendawi urged all parties to end the violence, saying, “We are pleading, stop this now. Protect the ceasefire, protect children, and give Gaza’s families a step towards the genuine peace they have been waiting for.”
Analysts say the latest escalation reveals deep flaws in the ceasefire’s implementation. Mouin Rabbani, a nonresident fellow at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies, said Israel had “never really fulfilled any of its commitments” under the truce, including withdrawing to the agreed lines or allowing sufficient humanitarian aid into Gaza.
According to Rabbani, Israel is “deliberately trying to undermine a ceasefire deal it was unwillingly dragged into by the US.” He added that Israel “does not feel it can simply renounce the ceasefire outright” and is instead engaging in “a gradual intensification of the process of erosion.”
The people’s momentary sense of relief has given way to agony as dawn breaks over Gaza. Gazans are wondering if peace will ever be more than a passing delusion as a result of the renewed attacks that have killed entire families, displaced thousands, and worsened the humanitarian crisis.
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