Gaza accuses Israel of hundreds of truce violations as winter rains deepen humanitarian crisis
Gaza’s fragile ceasefire came under renewed strain as local authorities accused Israel of committing hundreds of violations since the truce took effect on October 11, while international officials warned that heavy rains and winter cold were intensifying an already dire humanitarian crisis.
The Gaza Government Media Office said Israeli forces had carried out 393 ceasefire breaches, killing 279 Palestinians—mostly civilians, including children, women and the elderly—and injuring more than 652 others. It added that Israeli troops detained 35 people during raids and incursions, warning that the pattern of violations “undermines the agreement and creates a bloody reality that threatens stability.”
The Israeli military said it had killed several Palestinians who it claimed crossed the so-called “yellow line” in northern Gaza and posed an “imminent threat” to its forces. Palestinian media reported further casualties from Israeli strikes on Gaza City’s Shuja’iyya neighborhood, along with the advance of armored vehicles on Al-Shaaf Street in the city’s east.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said seven people were killed and 33 wounded over the past 48 hours. Since the ceasefire began, the ministry has recorded 280 deaths and 672 injuries, in addition to 571 bodies recovered from the rubble. The overall Gaza death toll has reached 69,513 people, with 170,745 wounded since the war erupted on October 7, 2023.
Tensions escalated after Israel Hayom reported that Washington had canceled a planned meeting in Istanbul between U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya. Citing US sources, the paper said the Biden administration was angered by Hamas’s efforts to rally Arab opposition to the US plan at the Security Council.
At the United Nations, Russia criticized the US-drafted Security Council resolution on Gaza’s future, saying it failed to align with international decisions supporting a Palestinian state. Moscow and Beijing abstained from the vote, which passed with support from 13 members. The Russian Foreign Ministry said the resolution excluded the Palestinian Authority, imposed no obligations on Israel to halt settlement expansion or withdraw forces, and sidelined the Council and the UN Secretariat from oversight. It added that repeated US vetoes of ceasefire resolutions over the past two years had “prolonged the war and civilian suffering.”
Humanitarian conditions deteriorated further this week as rainstorms swept Gaza. UN relief chief Martin Griffiths said residents were facing “cold, wet and rising floodwaters,” urging Israel to lift restrictions on aid deliveries. UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini warned that food and essential supplies remained insufficient, prices were soaring, and displacement was worsening as winter set in.
In Brussels, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese issued unusually sharp criticism of the EU’s role, saying European governments “are contributing to the destruction of Palestine” by continuing arms trade and research cooperation with Israel. She said 1.9 million displaced Palestinians—around 80% of Gaza’s remaining population—were now “standing in water with nothing left,” adding that debates over one- or two-state models were “pointless when people are dying every day.”
Separately, Israel’s Maariv newspaper reported that Canada continued to send military equipment to Israel despite announcing a halt to arms exports. Meanwhile, the Israeli army said 300 officers and soldiers had submitted requests to end their service immediately.
Inside Gaza, the municipality appealed for urgent international aid to clear roads and restore emergency services after widespread infrastructure damage. Munir al-Borsh, director-general of the Health Ministry, said anemia rates among infants under one year old had surged to 82% due to acute shortages of essential medicines, warning of what he described as “engineered health genocide.”
In Washington, US President Donald Trump claimed “Gaza is now safer than before” and said an international “Gaza Peace Council” under his leadership would include multiple heads of state. He said additional remains of Israeli hostages had been returned to their families, with two still unaccounted for under the first phase of his plan.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, during a meeting with Trump at the White House, said Riyadh remained interested in joining the Abraham Accords but stressed that any step forward required a “credible pathway to a two-state solution.” He said Saudi Arabia had discussed its contribution to Gaza’s reconstruction, adding that the final amount would be “significant.”
In London, UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper called for a major expansion of humanitarian aid to Gaza after Britain backed the US resolution. She urged the opening of all crossings, the lifting of restrictions, and the resumption of efforts toward a two-state solution to secure long-term peace.
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