Gaza: Israeli attacks kill over 380 since ceasefire

Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed 383 people since the ceasefire came into effect on October 10th, according to the Middle East Eye and agencies on December 11th.

This figure comes from a Telegram statement released by the Gaza Health Ministry, which also detailed how 1,002 have been injured, and 627 bodies have been recovered since the October ceasefire.

In November, it was reported that Israel had violated the terms of the US-backed ceasefire nearly 200 times since October 10th, with violations including the obstruction of humanitarian aid from entering the Strip and repeated airstrikes.

Under the deal, Israel was expected to withdraw to the so-called yellow line, representing the area of Gaza still under Israeli control. Concerns have been raised that Gaza is at risk of de facto partition if Israel does not withdraw its military.

Plans to rebuild only the Israeli-occupied parts of Gaza have also been discussed by the administration of US President Donald Trump. This proposal is likely an attempt to pressure Hamas into relinquishing power in the Strip, as reconstruction funds will reportedly not be allocated to areas under Hamas control.

This is despite a poll finding that around 70% of Palestinians in Gaza and the Occupied West Bank rejected calls for Hamas to be disarmed.

The rejection of Hamas’s disarmament predominantly came from the view that disarmament was not just a threat to security, but a question of the Palestinian right to self-determination.

Many Palestinians also expressed scepticism about the US-backed ceasefire, which critics have argued is a colonial endeavour due to its apparent lack of Palestinian representation in the post-war Gaza government.

Israel has repeatedly called for the expulsion of Hamas, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling for the removal of “extremism from the people of Gaza” if Hamas cannot be dealt with.

While speaking about Gaza’s future, Netanyahu insisted that “Hamas cannot remain in Gaza, and eliminating it will be either through an international force or the hard way.”

Netanyahu continued, “The second stage [of the US-backed ceasefire] aims to disarm Hamas and make Gaza weapon-free, and I believe there is a third, which is to remove extremism from the people of Gaza.”

Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed over 70,000 people since October 2023; however, this might be an undercount, as ex-Israeli army chief Herzi Halevi admitted that the casualty toll is over 200,000 people.

According the the Palestinian Ministry of Health, over 17,000 children have been killed by Israel’s war on Gaza, while at least 21,000 children have become disabled as a result of the Israeli military operation.

Middle East Eye and agencies, Maghrebi.org