GAZA CEASEFIRE EXISTS IN NAME ONLY, SAY MORE THAN 100 ORGANIZATIONS
GAZA – One year after the Gaza ceasefire agreement was reached, more than 100 humanitarian, human rights, and other civil society 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.
The killing and deprivation in Gaza must not be normalized under the cover of a ceasefire agreement, the organizations working on the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory warned today.
Mohsen Abu Ramadan, Palestinian NGO Network Board Member, said:
"Palestinian organizations are responding to immense needs under Israeli occupation with destroyed offices, displaced staff, and shrinking budgets. Local and national organizations 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 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 neighborhoods 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 specialized 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 - twenty times more than 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; it is estimated that more than 10,000 people still lay 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:
1. A New Policy
2. Act Church of Sweden
3. Action For Humanity
4. ActionAid
5. Agricultural Development Association (PARC)
6. Ajyal Association for Creativity & Development
7. Alanqaa Association for Community Development
8. Al Najda Social Association
9. Al-dameer Association for Human Rights
10. Al-Foukhary Association For Rural Development
11. Al-Muntada Cultural Forum for Youth
12. Alrahma charitable society for rehabilitation
13. Alwaleed Charity Association
14. American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
15. Amnesty International
16. Applied Research Institute-Jerusalem
17. Arab Agronomists Association
18. Arab Center for Agricultural Development (ACAD)
19. Basma Society for Culture and Arts.
20. Beesan Benevolent Association
21. Brilliant Tomorrow for Homes Sons Society
22. Bystanders No More
23. Caritas Internationalis
24. Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD)
25. Catholic Caucus , Christians for Free Palestine
26. Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC)
27. CESVI
28. Child Rights International Network (CRIN)
29. Children Not Numbers
30. Choose Love
31. Christian Aid
32. Christian Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
33. Churches for Middle East Peace
34. CIDSE - International family of Catholic social justice organisations
35. CNCD-11.11.11
36. Community Development and Media Center – CDMC
37. Council for Arab-British Understanding (Caabu)
38. DanChurchAid
39. Danish Muslim Aid
40. Danish Refugee Council
41. DEFENCE FOR CHILDREN INTERNATIONAL
42. Democracy and Workers' Rights Center in Palestine
43. Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN)
44. Diakonia
45. Doctors Against Genocide
46. Dr. Haider Abdel Shafi Center for Culture and Development
47. Etijahat Center
48. Fares Al-Arab for Development and Charity Works
49. Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR)
50. Friends Committee on National Legislation
51. Future Association for Development & Environment (FADE)
52. Gaza Urban & Peri-urban Agriculture Platform
53. General Palestinian Union For People With Disabilities
54. Give Palestine Association
55. Glia
56. Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P)
57. Global Legal Action Network (GLAN)
58. Greenpeace International
59. HelpAge International
60. Human Rights and Democracy Media Center-SHAMS
61. Humanity and Inclusion (Handicap International)
62. International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights- ICSPR
63. International Development and Relief Foundation (IDRF)
64. International Media Support
65. Islamic Relief
66. JAHALIN SOLIDARITY
67. Japan International Volunteer Center (JVC)
68. Just Foreign Policy
69. Karama for Culture and Arts
70. Kotof El-Khair Association
71. LABOR RESOURCES CENTER
72. Local Communities Organization
73. MA'AN Development Center
74. Médecins du Monde International Network
75. Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP)
76. Medico international
77. Mennonite Central Committee
78. Nafs for Empowerment
79. National Justice and Peace Network
80. Nipponzan Myohoji - New England Peace Pagoda
81. Nonviolent Peaceforce
82. Norwegian Church Aid
83. Norwegian People's Aid
84. Norwegian Refugee Council
85. Olof Palme International Center
86. Oxfam
87. Palestine Association for Development and Justice
88. Palestine Avenir for Childhood Foundation
89. Palestinian Crescent Society for Relief and Development
90. Palestinian NGOs Network (PNGO)
91. Palestinian Women Union Association
92. Pax Christi England and Wales
93. Pax Christi International
94. Peace Action
95. Peace Action New York State
96. Peace Pledge Union
97. Première Urgence Internationale
98. Priests Against Genocide USA
99. Refugees International
100. Right to Childhood
101. Roya Association For Development Abilities
102. Saferworld
103. Save the Children
104. Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund
105. Society of Women Graduates
106. Taghreed Association for Culture and Development
107. Tearfund
108. Terre des Hommes Foundation
109. Terre des Hommes Germany
110. Terre des Hommes Italy
111. Terre des Hommes Netherlands
112. The Coalition for Accountability and Integrity - AMAN
113. The Danish House in Palestine (DHIP)
114. The Middle East Children's Alliance
115. The Palestinian Developmental Women Studies Association (PDWSA)
116. The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy
117. United Against Inhumanity (UAI)
118. United Nations Association - Denmark
119. UNRWA USA National Committee
120. War Child Alliance
121. Women's Program Center- Beach Camp
122. Youth Vision Society
123. Zeina women Charity ZWC