The Gaza Ceasefire Is a Minefield Shallowly Masquerading as a Truce |
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Since the supposed “ceasefire” in Gaza came into effect on October 10, 2025, I have personally borne witness to two ceasefire breaches in my refugee camp.
One was on October 19, when Israeli forces bombed a café — a space to breathe away from scenes of destruction, a place to work or study with a reliable internet connection, a meeting point for displaced friends, a brief chance to enjoy the moment. I could have been there. I was juggling my studies ahead of a musculoskeletal exam for medical school, planning to go to the café for a stable internet connection. But something held me back. I stayed home.
Midway through taking my exam in my refugee camp, an explosion shook the ground, and billowing smoke blurred our vision. Back then, I did not have the luxury of knowing where it fell or exactly what it hit. But I heard the crowds screeching. My mind was racing as I relentlessly tried to stay focused on answering my exam questions.
Then it turned out to be the Twix Café I used to visit — the strike left six patrons killed and many injured. Their only crime was choosing to live, to breathe, to thrive. But Israeli bombs were already woefully closer.
Then, Israeli media announced that the Israeli military had ended its escalation in Gaza and achieved its targets. People were left with nothing but to believe in this fragile truce.
The second ceasefire breach that touched me personally occurred on November 22, when the Israeli military committed a massacre in my neighborhood against an entire family. Members of the Abushawish family were gathered in the hall, opening a humanitarian aid parcel when the airstrike hit. Only their eldest daughter survived because she had happened to step into her room just minutes before the airstrike. The family had survived many attacks before, but this one tore them into pieces, inflicting devastation beyond repair.
The airstrike also further weakened the already perilous shelters in my camp and damaged water and sewage infrastructure — systems that had been repaired and re-repaired after every previous bombardment. In an instant, Israel wiped out an entire family, tearing them apart and leaving only one survivor — alone, cold, speechless, carrying muffled memories inside a shattered home.
This Sham Ceasefire Follows Decades of Other Broken Promises
The falsity of the current “ceasefire” in Gaza should perhaps come as no surprise given all the other........