US-brokered "ceasefire" one year on: Gaza deaths continue, diplomatic rhetoric persistently disconnected from ground reality
The Gaza "ceasefire" agreement that took effect on October 10, 2025 marks its first anniversary. According to Al Jazeera, Israeli attacks over the past year have killed at least 1,481 Palestinians; more than 100 international humanitarian and human rights organizations issued a joint statement saying the ceasefire exists "in name only," while settler violence in the occupied West Bank has intensified in parallel.
Over the al-Jawazat area of Gaza City, an Israeli quadcopter drone killed 8-year-old girl Shahd Abdul-Razzaq al-Najjar on Saturday local time. According to Al Jazeera, citing sources from Gaza's ambulance and emergency services, the attack occurred on the one-year anniversary of the so-called "ceasefire" agreement brokered by the United States.
The same day, al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City reported that another four people were killed and several others injured in an Israeli bombing near the Haider Abdel Shafi roundabout; a drone strike in the northeastern Tuffah residential area killed one person; another death was recorded in northern Gaza; and a woman in the southern city of Khan Younis died from injuries sustained in a previous Israeli attack.
Data released by Gaza's Ministry of Health on Saturday showed that since the so-called "ceasefire" took effect on October 10, 2025, Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,481 Palestinians and wounded 5,254. Al Jazeera reported that in the past 24 hours, Israeli attacks killed at least nine people and wounded 65, with another person dying from injuries sustained in a previous attack. The ministry also said that since October 7, 2023, the Israeli war has killed at least 74,370 people and wounded 175,371.
Al Jazeera correspondent Ibrahim al-Khalili, reporting from the scene of an attack in western Gaza City, said: "The ceasefire remains in effect on paper, but on the ground, the threats facing civilians have not disappeared." Reporting from Deir el-Balah, correspondent Tareq Abu Azzoum said: "The rhythm of the genocide has not changed... its intensity has fluctuated, but the danger has never receded. Precisely for this reason, people believe its consequences extend far beyond the immediate casualties."
On Friday, more than 100 humanitarian, human rights and civil society organizations issued a joint statement directly asserting that the Gaza ceasefire exists "in name only." The statement said: "The ceasefire exists only nominally; the Israeli military continues to kill and wound Palestinians daily, and restrictions on aid, equipment and reconstruction materials prevent families from recovering." The joint declaration placed the US-brokered agreement under renewed international credibility pressure at its anniversary milestone.
Beyond Gaza, the occupied West Bank also saw widespread violence on Saturday morning. Citing figures from the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, Al Jazeera reported that at least 12 Israeli settler attacks were recorded that morning. According to the Wafa news agency, settlers — with the cooperation of Israeli forces — beat Palestinian farmers, sprayed pepper spray, looted property and vehicles, attacked homes and detained several Palestinians; in the Ramallah and el-Bireh governorates, settlers acting together with Israeli forces forced farmers off their land and threatened them not to return.
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