'War goes on' Two months on, how does the ceasefire look in Gaza?

When Jumaa and Fadi Abu Assi went to look for firewood, their parents thought they would be safe.

- Seham Tantesh Gaza, Julian Borger and Emma Graham-Harrison Jerusalem

They were just young boys, aged nine and 10, and a ceasefire had been declared in Gaza. Their mother, Hala Abu Assi, was making tea in the family’s tent in Khan Younis when she heard an explosion, a missile fired by an Israeli drone. She ran to the scene but it was too late.

Since the US-brokered ceasefire was announced on 10 October, Israeli forces have killed more than 360 Palestinians in Gaza; according to a UN official at least 70 of them are children, like Jumaa and Fadi.

They were killed, their mother said, at “a time when bloodshed was supposed to stop”. “After the ceasefire was announced, I felt a bit of safety and believed that nothing would harm my children any more,” Abu Assi said. “But fate had another plan.”

She is focused now on keeping her two daughters alive. “I still hear explosions and gunfire,” she said. “I do not feel that the war has ended.”

The toll from Israeli attacks in Gaza has fallen significantly compared with the preceding two years of war, when on average around 90 Palestinians were killed each day. But significant numbers of civilians are still losing their lives. On average, seven people a day are killed by Israeli weapons. That rate of violent death would be considered an active conflict in many other contexts, raising questions about how accurately “ceasefire” describes the new status quo.

“It’s something that if you want to you can call a ceasefire, which is very convenient for the Americans and for everyone who wants this off their television screens and off their streets and off their annoying parliamentary and political schedules,” said Daniel Levy, a former Israeli negotiator and the president of the US/Middle East Project.

“It is very convenient for Israel. The pressure is off. They have smashed the whole place up and can still kill as they please.”