The Zionist entity has turned the “ceasefire” into a weapon of war. Every supposed marker of peace and cooperation is used as a shroud to continue their daily offensive, massacring and maiming with impunity in Gaza, southern Lebanon, and beyond.
The Israeli military has killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in Gaza since the October 2025 ceasefire went into effect. Over that same period, occupation forces advanced deeper into Gaza, pushing Palestinians east and south of the new “Yellow Line,” occupying roughly 60 percent of the Strip and calling for further advances. Anyone who attempted to return to their home beyond or even who lived near the line were shot.
The IOF still controls what enters and leaves the Strip, continuing to manufacture food and medical supply shortages.
Since the November 2024 ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, Zionist forces have killed hundreds of Lebanese with drones and airstrikes, assassinating journalists, including the beloved Amal Khalil, destroyed dozens of villages, and prevented thousands of displaced Southerners from returning to their homes.
Should the resistance make a single move in self defense against these massacres, the Occupation unleashes firebelts upon the displaced, then justifies it as a response to a “ceasefire violation.” The Zionists’ unrelenting assault and their neverending theater of diplomacy offer only the illusion that, at some as yet undetermined date, the killing will end.
“Ceasefire now!” the world demanded in mass protests throughout the early months of the Zionist genocide. But with every so-called ceasefire, the protests empty and the energy wanes from a movement whose horizon should always be liberation. The Zionist entity continues its violent conquests with newfound narrative relief.
In the global anti-imperialist struggle for a liberated Palestine and Lebanon, a ceasefire with Israel holds no weight and no worth. Calls for ceasefires place hope in the possibility of honesty from and coexistence with the perjurious Zionist entity.
Three years into a genocide, and 78 years into an occupation, we must escalate the cost of normalizing Israel to an untenable degree everywhere. In every institution, every transaction, every sector of life. The enemy never rests and we must resist each new weapon it brings to bear, across every battlefield and on every front. Empires do not fall overnight; our struggle continues.
Three years of death and destruction during so-called ‘ceasefires’
Gaza Ceasefire #1
Dates: November 24, 2023 – November 30, 2023
Terms between Israel and Hamas: "No attack whatsoever. No military movements, no expansion, nothing"; 50 Israeli hostages released, 150 Palestinian prisoners released; aid entering Gaza.
Palestinians killed: At least 4.
Israeli ceasefire violations: Several killings, shootings, "sporadic" violations during this week.
Examples:
Within hours of the start of the ceasefire on November 24, 2023, occupation forces shot and killed two Palestinians who were trying to return to the northern Gaza Strip.
Gaza Ceasefire #2
Dates: January 19, 2025 – March 18, 2025
Terms between Israel and Hamas:
Three stages:
First: Cessation of hostilities, withdrawal of IOF forces eastward to "zone along the border," freedom of movement for Palestinians, entry of aid including temporary homes and tents, partial cessation of IOF planes/drones over Gaza in exchange for release of 33 Israeli captives for Palestinian prisoners;
Second: Permanent Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and end to military operations, final hostage exchange.
Third: Exchange of remains of hostages, reconstruction plan for Gaza, "siege of the Gaza strip ends completely."
Palestinians killed: 574
Israeli ceasefire violations: >1,000, per UN estimates
Examples:
March 2, 2025: Israel announces it will stop all humanitarian aid, food, and water entering the Gaza strip. By August, the World Health Organization officially declares famine in Gaza.
March 18, 2025: Israel breaks the ceasefire with a surprise air barrage that kills more than 400 Palestinians.
Gaza Ceasefire #3
Dates: October 10, 2025 – present
Terms between Israel and Hamas: A 20-point plan that included suspension of all military operations, incremental withdrawal of IOF forces outside of newly established “yellow line”, aid coming in.
Palestinians killed: 1,359
Israeli ceasefire violations: 4,379
Examples:
October 2025: Israel fires a tank shell at a civilian vehicle driving in Gaza City, killing 11 members of the Abu Shaaban family. Seven children and three women are among the dead. The family was trying to inspect their home nearby; the IOF claimed their bus was “suspicious” and had crossed the “yellow line.”
On the sea, Palestinian fishermen in Gaza continue to face naval attacks from IOF forces as recently as September. Gaza’s fishing capacity, already restricted since before Al Aqsa Flood, has been reduced by at least 72% since October 7, 2023. Since the October 2025 ceasefire, Israeli forces have murdered or detained more than 20 fishermen in Gaza, according to the Gaza Fishermen’s Syndicate.
December 30, 2025: Israel bans at least 37 international humanitarian aid organizations including Doctors Without Borders, the International Rescue Commission and Save the Children from operating in Gaza and delivering food, medicine, and life-sustaining support.
At least 9 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the October 2025 ceasefire: Fadi al-Meghari (killed by an Israeli drone near the “yellow line” as he stepped out of his home); Mohammed Washah (killed in a targeted strike on his car); Amal Shamaly (killed in an Israeli air strike); Mohamed Qeshta, Anas Ghnaim, and Abed Shaat (killed together by an Israeli drone strike as they traveled in their vehicle); Mahmoud Wadi (targeted and killed by an Israeli missile as he was trying to use a drone to film destruction in Gaza); Ahmed Abu Mutair (killed in an Israeli attack on Palestine Media Production headquarters, which also killed an 8-year-old child); Saleh Aljafarawi (killed in crossfire amid clashes between Hamas and an Israel-linked militia)
May 2026: Netanyahu, speaking at a conference in a settlement in the occupied West Bank, stated: “We now control 60% of the territory in the strip. You know, we were at 50, we moved to 60. My directive is to move to…70%.”
July 2026: An Israeli strike kills seven people attending a funeral in central Gaza, leaving another 22 wounded. The funeral was being held for another person killed in an Israeli airstrike earlier the same day.
September 2026: An Israeli strike on a vehicle kills seven-year-old Wafaa Aqila and her father, who had just purchased school supplies for the start of the school year. Later the same day, an Israeli airstrike on a school, which is currently sheltering people displaced within Gaza, killed Saadi Ghalia, a first-grader.
September 2026: At a conference organized by Ynet, Defense Minister Israel Katz stated “In the end, there is no real solution for Gaza without this migration.” He emphasized that Israel will ensure the ethnic cleansing “by any means.”
Lebanon Ceasefire #1
Dates: November 27, 2024 – March 2, 2026
Terms between Israel and Lebanon: Cessation of hostilities; Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon
Lebanese killed: ~400
Israeli ceasefire violations: >2,000, according to Lebanese government estimates
Examples:
The November 26, 2024, ceasefire gestured at Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon but ultimately Israel maintained forces on five hilltops/strategic points in Lebanese territory along the Blue Line: Hamames Hill; Labbouneh; Jabal Blat; Markaba-Houla route; Jal al-Deir.
Lebanon Ceasefire #2
Dates: April 16, 2026 – present
Terms: Initial April truce between the Occupation and the Lebanese government entailed "cessation of hostilities" meant to open the door for additional peace talks; Israel retained broad powers to act militarily in "self-defense." Hezbollah is not a party to these negotiations. The June 26 framework agreement gestured towards Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, but maintained "self-defense" provisions. The South remains under occupation and attack.
Lebanese killed: 1,762
Israeli ceasefire violations: 7,700
Examples:
Shortly after the April truce is announced, Israel publishes a map of a “buffer zone,” an area of southern Lebanon within a six-mile radius of the Blue Line, which it intends to occupy with ground forces. This map is published alongside an evacuation order for 57 towns and villages within this radius. Israel now occupies 608 sq kilometers (234 sq miles) in southern Lebanon, though its military activities expand beyond this area — another example of structurally weak “ceasefires” allowing Israel to formalize land incursions made during periods when there was no ceasefire in effect.
Late April, 2026: IOF militants rig the Lebanese village of Beit Lif with explosives and demolish every one of its buildings. It’s the first of many villages Israel has demolished since this ceasefire began.
May 31, 2026: Israel captures a mountain near Nabtiyeh that houses the historic Beaufort castle, dating back to the time of the Crusades. Reports say this is the deepest land incursion by Israel into Lebanon in over twenty years.
More than 340,000 Lebanese citizens remain displaced over5 months after the ceasefire began.
180 square miles of farmland destroyed. “Olive groves have been hardest hit, along with field crops, citrus trees, and bananas. The war has also affected cattle, sheep, fish farms, and beehives.”
September 15, 2026: Students return to school, even as many school buildings in southern Lebanon double as shelters for displaced citizens fleeing bombardment. Thousands of students are among the displaced. About 340 schools have been damaged since the beginning of Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon. Over 400 schools are affected by ongoing displacement.
Sept 7, 2026: Israeli airstrike killed at least 12 people in Kfar Remman in southern Lebanon. The dead include at least two children. A second strike killed a paramedic.
This piece appears in the twenty-third issue of The New York War Crimes.