DaysofPal – What began as a promise of calm has become a cover for continued bloodshed. Since the Gaza ceasefire took effect on October 10, Israel has carried out what observers describe as a quieter yet systematic campaign of extermination against Palestinians, marked by daily violations, artillery fire, and deliberate attacks on civilians.
Under the guise of the truce, Israeli forces have shifted tactics, from intense bombardments to a slow, methodical form of destruction. Daily shelling and limited strikes now routinely escalate into large-scale massacres every few days, targeting displacement centers, homes, and tents.
Since the ceasefire began, at least 219 Palestinians have been killed, including 85 children, averaging ten deaths per day. Around 600 others have been wounded, or nearly 30 every day, figures that reveal the continuation of the same pattern of killing that has persisted for over two years.
Two of the deadliest assaults since the ceasefire were carried out on October 19 and October 28–29, killing 47 and 110 Palestinians, respectively, among them dozens of women and children.
In the most recent bombardments, Israeli artillery pounded eastern Khan Yunis and Gaza City, while warplanes and drones struck residential neighborhoods. Field monitors documented Israeli forces demolishing homes and placing yellow concrete blocks inside Jabalia camp in northern Gaza, effectively warning residents to evacuate once again, forcing hundreds to flee from what little remained of their shattered homes.
Eyewitness accounts and field documentation from the October 28–29 wave of attacks reveal strikes that showed no regard for proportionality or distinction. The bombardments hit family homes, displacement tents, and shelters, reflecting a clear pattern of collective punishment and revenge.
In Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood, an airstrike obliterated the home of the Al-Banna family, killing 10 civilians, including 4 children and 3 women. Minutes later, another strike targeted a civilian car in Khan Yunis, killing Ayesh Saadi Ayesh, his wife Heba Ghazi Isa Al-Qodra, and their three young children, Anas (8), Saadi (6), and Rima (3).
In Nuseirat camp, two homes belonging to the Abu Dalal family were destroyed, killing 18 people, among them 7 children and 3 women. That same morning, an airstrike hit a displacement tent in Mawasi Khan Yunis, killing 8, including a mother and her five children. Another drone strike in Deir al-Balah killed an entire family of five from the Al-Attar family.
Across Al-Amal neighborhood, Yarmouk Street, and the camps of Bureij, Nuseirat, and Deir al-Balah, homes were leveled and shelters turned into burial grounds. These repeated assaults, targeting civilians and displacement sites, expose an unmistakable intent to terrorize the population, erase communities, and destroy Gaza’s social fabric under the pretext of maintaining security.
Observers and rights groups warn that Israel is using the ceasefire to redraw Gaza’s map, dividing it into new “red” and “yellow” zones where it assumes complete authority over targeting and destruction. These divisions cut Gaza from east to west and isolate parts of Rafah, Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia, and Jabalia, effectively dismantling its geographic unity and forcing civilians into permanent displacement.
Such policies represent a new phase of slow genocide, one that replaces large-scale offensives with controlled, persistent killing and destruction aimed at erasing Palestinian life from vast areas of Gaza.
Targeting tents, schools, and shelters where families seek refuge violates the Geneva Conventions of 1949, which prohibit attacks on civilians and displaced persons. The ongoing assaults demonstrate an intent to maximize casualties and spread fear among survivors.
With the international community largely silent, Israel continues its operations with impunity. The absence of accountability has enabled this slow-motion genocide to continue unchecked, normalizing mass killing under the guise of a ceasefire.
Urgent international action is needed to protect civilians, lift the blockade, ensure the withdrawal of Israeli forces, and initiate a credible investigation into war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Gaza before the truce becomes the final phase of Gaza’s annihilation.
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