GAZA CEASEFIRE EXISTS IN NAME ONLY, SAY MORE THAN 100 ORGANIZATIONS
Geneva, October 9, 2026 – One year after the Gaza ceasefire agreement was reached, Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC) and over 100 organizations say the ceasefire exists in name only, with Israeli forces continuing to kill and injure Palestinians daily and restrictions on aid, equipment and rebuilding materials preventing families from recovering.
“When civilians have nowhere safe to go, when children are still being killed daily, and when families still cannot access life-saving aid, the ceasefire exists in name only,” said Hichem Khadhraoui, CIVIC Executive Director. “Every government that supported this agreement has a responsibility to use their influence to stop the killing, ensure the free flow of aid, and enable the daunting task of recovery.”
Read the full statement below and download it here.
GAZA CEASEFIRE EXISTS IN NAME ONLY, SAY MORE THAN 100 ORGANIZATIONS
One year since the ceasefire agreement, more than 1,400 people have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, nearly two million still need shelter, not a single hospital is fully functioning, and 1.4 million face crisis-level hunger.
GAZA, 9 October 2026 – One year after the Gaza ceasefire agreement was reached, more than 100 humanitarian, human rights, and other civil society organisations say the ceasefire exists in name only, with Israeli forces continuing to kill and injure Palestinians daily, and restrictions on aid, equipment and rebuilding materials preventing families from recovering.
The killing and deprivation in Gaza must not be normalised under the cover of a ceasefire agreement, the organisations working on the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory warned today.
Mohsen Abu Ramadan, Palestinian NGO Network Board Member, said:
“Palestinian organisations are responding to immense needs under Israeli occupation with destroyed offices, displaced staff, and shrinking budgets. Local and national organisations are first responders and will remain, but we need to be protected. Governments must act to end Israel’s attacks and restrictions on our work and donors must provide direct, flexible funding to meet the needs.”
Over the past year, Israeli strikes, shootings and military operations have killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, including at least 327 children. Families and rescue workers have recovered hundreds of bodies from the rubble, often with their bare hands, as Israeli authorities restrict the entry of machinery needed to reach them. Many more remain buried and unreachable.
The Israeli military has also moved the so-called Yellow Line further into Gaza, beyond the withdrawal line set out in the agreement, squeezing Palestinians into an increasingly small and overcrowded area.
Inger Ashing, Save the Children CEO, said:
“A ceasefire is meaningless if children are still being killed and families are still unable to rebuild their lives. Since the ceasefire was announced, nearly one child has been killed every day. Families remain trapped in a devastating cycle of loss and deprivation, unable to recover. Governments that backed this agreement must use their influence to stop the killing and ensure children can access food, healthcare, shelter and education. Gaza’s children have a right to safety and a future. Governments have the power to help secure both, and they must use it.”
Recent satellite imagery shows the scale of devastation caused by Israeli forces, with neighbourhoods reduced to rubble, homes flattened and agricultural land razed. More than 80% of structures across Gaza have been damaged, including around two-thirds that have been destroyed.
As winter approaches, hundreds of thousands of families still live in tents, makeshift shelters or damaged homes and face a fourth winter exposed to cold, wind and flooding. Nearly one in four households in Gaza is now headed by a woman, and these families are far more likely to be living in unsafe or inadequate shelter.
For many, there is simply nowhere safe to go. Families are sheltering in war-damaged buildings at risk of collapse. In September, 21 people, including 12 children, were killed when a damaged building collapsed in Gaza City.
Jan Egeland, Norwegian Refugee Council Secretary General, said:
“It is utterly shameful that a full year after the ceasefire was signed, so little has improved for Palestinians in Gaza. Families are still being forced to make impossible choices, between sheltering in damaged and dangerous buildings or living in tents facing unbearable temperatures. Israeli restrictions are still preventing the required equipment or materials, which are the only ways for communities to begin rebuilding their lives. As winter approaches, all governments must take concrete steps to ensure that the flow of aid increases without hindrance, so that Palestinians can finally begin the vast task of recovery and reconstruction.”
These same restrictions are devastating essential services. Not one of Gaza’s 36 hospitals is fully functioning, while medicines, equipment and fuel remain critically scarce. Newborn babies in incubators, patients requiring oxygen or intensive care, older people and people with disabilities and life-changing injuries are among those facing acute risks as specialised treatment, rehabilitation and assistive services remain severely limited.
More than 18,500 patients, including at least 4,000 children, still need medical evacuation, and over 1,000 have died waiting.
Meanwhile, 1.4 million people are facing crisis-level hunger or worse through the end of the year. At the same time, unsafe water and devastated sanitation systems continue to drive the spread of preventable disease.
A year on, the pattern is unmistakable. Families are still being killed. Children are still dying of preventable illness. Gaza is still littered with unexploded ordnance. Homes lie in rubble that cannot be cleared, and aid cannot reach the people who so desperately need it. This is not what a ceasefire was meant to deliver. It reflects the same conditions that twice led the UN Commission of Inquiry, in September 2025 and again in June 2026, to conclude that Israel has committed genocide. The international community’s responsibility does not end with an agreement on paper.
Agnes Callmard, Secretary-General of Amnesty International, said:
“Accountability cannot be swept under the rubble. The recovery and future of Gaza cannot be separated from a framework grounded in international law, justice, and the rights of victims. The persistent failure to hold Israel accountable and press Israel to comply with the International Court of Justice’s binding orders continues to fuel the atrocity crimes on a mass scale against Palestinians.”
EDITOR’S NOTES
- Casualties: At least 327 children killed and 547 injured during ceasefire period, according to Gaza Ministry of Health; more than 5,000 injured overall (WHO – Global Health Cluster); more than 630 bodies recovered from rubble; many more remain buried or unreachable in areas under Israeli military control (OHCHR).
- Yellow Line: area under Israeli control expanded from ~53% to ~63% of Gaza over the ceasefire year (OCHA).
- Destruction: 82% of structures damaged, over two-thirds completely destroyed (UNRWA); 61 million tonnes of rubble, ~20x the amount generated by all wars worldwide over the past 18 years (The Guardian; UNDP).
- Destruction continuing under ceasefire: 9% increase in structures classified as completely destroyed, 11 October 2025 to 11 August 2026. (UNRWA; UNOSAT)
- Concerns raised regarding rubble removal risking destruction of evidence of international crimes; estimated 10,000+ people still buried beneath debris (OHCHR)
- Health: engine oil/spare parts shortages forcing hospitals to ration power; humanitarian vehicles and ambulances grounded; deaths from preventable/treatable conditions, including pregnancy-related complications. (OCHA)
- Women-headed households: nearly 1 in 4, roughly double the pre-war rate. (UN Women)
- Funding: <40% of the 2026 humanitarian response funded as of July. (OCHA)
- Water insecurity: >9 in 10 households. (OCHA)
Signatories:
See updated list here.
Signatories will continue to be updated on a rolling basis.
Photo Credits By: [Al Jazeera]: Marium Ali and AJLabs
