The Gaza ceasefire that Israel has not taken seriously is being ignored on US and international levels. This is Donald Trump's October 10th ceasefire, but he remains mum. The Gaza media Office has reported Israel has violated the ceasefire at least 497 times, killing 342 Palestinians, the majority of the victims being women, children and the elderly.

 

Israel claims it is responding to attacks from Hamas, but the Palestinian media office has accused Israel of fabricating pretexts and called on mediators - the US, Egypt and Qatar - to intervene immediately. The media office said Israeli troops had also advanced beyond the yellow line delineated in the ceasefire deal. This is standard Israeli practice and should surprise no one.

 

Gaza is not the only location where Israel is challenging Palestinians. In the West Bank, illegal Israeli settlers have stepped up attacks on Palestinians while the Israeli authorities have built new illegal settlements, expanded existing settlements, demolished Palestinian homes, seized Palestinian land, arrested scores of Palestinians, and planted checkpoints across the area to curb Palestinian freedom of movement.

 

Israel has also refused for ten months to allow 32,000 Palestinians to return to their homes in the UN Jenin, Tukaram and Nur Shams refugee camps. While in occupation of the camps, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported Israel had demolished 850 homes and other buildings as well as infrastructure. HRW said Israel's coerced, prolonged evacuations and the physical devastation wreaked on the camps "amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity." HRW added, "The Geneva Conventions prohibit displacement of civilians from occupied territory except temporarily for imperative military reasons or the population's security." HRW contended that Israel's operations “may also be considered 'ethnic cleansing.'"

 

Israel has done nothing to aid the evicted camp dwellers; some have moved in with relatives who live outside the camps while others have found refuge in nearby villages. Many have no work, forcing their families to become dependent on aid agencies. Closely knit family groups have been torn apart and children who attended UN schools in the camps have lost months of education. Shops and businesses in the camps have been looted, gutted, and torched.

 

Since the October 7th, 2023, a total of 67,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by Israeli military action and more than 900 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli soldiers and settlers where 60 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or clashes. During operations, Israeli troops have appropriated and based themselves in Palestinian homes and other premises. In response to criticism, the Israeli armed forces command claimed troops abide by international humanitarian law and adopt "measures to minimise the impact on civilians as much as possible." Reporting on Israeli home invasions and occupations, the UN Humanitarian Office (OCHA) said Palestinian dwellings were often vandalised.

 

Meanwhile, constant Israeli incursions and bombing in south Lebanon since November 2024 have killed more than 300 people, 100 of whom were civilians, and displaced 1.4 million. Israel has also used white phosphorus ammunition to destroy crops and poison farmland. In the year the ceasefire has been in effect, UN peacekeepers have reported nearly 7,000 Israeli air violations and more than 2,400 military incursions in south Lebanon. The World Bank has estimated overall damage at $11 billion with nearly 75 per cent impacting homes and commercial areas: all civilian properties.

 

Reconstruction has been minimal since the Lebanese state cannot afford the costs, diminished Hizbollah can no longer assume this task, and foreign finance is not forthcoming. The US and its Western allies demand that Hizbollah must be disarmed before the country can launch post-war rehabilitation. Repeated Israeli intervention is meant to discourage the return of families to southern villages with the aim of preventing recovery in a war-ravaged region which contained one-quarter of the country's farmland, including olive plantations, and formerly relied on agriculture for revenue.

 

The right-wing, aggressive Israel under Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is also having a negative impact on that country. Mental health professionals have warned of “deep and prolonged collective trauma” and accelerating breakdown of the sense of safety and trust. The “psychological state and wellbeing of Israeli society are at a low point we have never seen before,” experts have argued.

 

Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics reported more than 80,000 of the country’s 10 million citizens departed in 2024 and a similar number is expected to leave this year. A poll published on November 23rd showed that 26 per cent of Jewish Israelis and 30 per cent of Palestinian citizens of Israel (who account for 21 per cent of the population) were considering leaving the country. Of those who said they were thinking of departing, 69 per cent of Jews and 62.5 per cent of Palestinians said there was no specific attraction abroad, but they simply wanted to leave the country. Among Jewish Israelis, those who identified as left leaning were more likely to want to depart. The figure was highest among prosperous secular Israelis who have foreign passports. Chief considerations were the cost of living, insecurity, poor public services, threats to freedom of speech, concern over Israel's democratic system, and “the lack of a good future for my children.” It is notable that most wanted to settle in Europe - where 200,000 already dwell - rather than the US and Canada.

 

Israeli commentators argue the departure of left leaning Israelis could perpetuate the rule of Netanyahu via next year’s parliamentary election as he retains the backing of right-wingers and Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox religious communities. He has been accused of prolonging military operations in Gaza and the West Bank to project an image of a competent war leader with the object of securing re-election.

 

He has excellent reasons for seeking to stay in office. He has used his duties as prime minister to shorten and postpone court hearings on cases of bribery, corruption, and breach of trust. He also faces accusations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza levelled by the International Criminal Court which has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and ex-Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.