Gaza ceasefire exists in name only, say more than 100 organisations

GAZA, 9 October 2026 – One year after the Gaza ceasefire agreement was reached, more than 100 humanitarian, human rights, and other civil society organisations say the ceasefire exists in name only, with Israeli forces continuing to kill and injure Palestinians daily, and restrictions on aid, equipment and rebuilding materials preventing families from recovering.

The killing and deprivation in Gaza must not be normalised under the cover of a ceasefire agreement, the organisations working on the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory warned today.

Mohsen Abu Ramadan, Palestinian NGO Network Board Member, said:

"Palestinian organisations are responding to immense needs under Israeli occupation with destroyed offices, displaced staff, and shrinking budgets. Local and national organisations are first responders and will remain, but we need to be protected. Governments must act to end Israel’s attacks and restrictions on our work and donors must provide direct, flexible funding to meet the needs."

Over the past year, Israeli strikes, shootings and military operations have killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, including at least 327 children. Families and rescue workers have recovered hundreds of bodies from the rubble, often with their bare hands, as Israeli authorities restrict the entry of machinery needed to reach them. Many more remain buried and unreachable.

The Israeli military has also moved the so-called Yellow Line further into Gaza, beyond the withdrawal line set out in the agreement, squeezing Palestinians into an increasingly small and overcrowded area.

Inger Ashing, Save the Children International CEO, said:

"A ceasefire is meaningless if children are still being killed and families are still unable to rebuild their lives. Since the ceasefire was announced, nearly one child has been killed every day. Families remain trapped in a devastating cycle of loss and deprivation, unable to recover. Governments that backed this agreement must use their influence to stop the killing and ensure children can access food, healthcare, shelter and education. Gaza’s children have a right to safety and a future. Governments have the power to help secure both, and they must use it.”

Recent satellite imagery shows the scale of devastation caused by Israeli forces, with neighbourhoods reduced to rubble, homes flattened and agricultural land razed. More than 80% of structures across Gaza have been damaged, including around two-thirds that have been destroyed.

As winter approaches, hundreds of thousands of families still live in tents, makeshift shelters or damaged homes and face a fourth winter exposed to cold, wind and flooding. Nearly one in four households in Gaza is now headed by a woman, and these families are far more likely to be living in unsafe or inadequate shelter.

For many, there is simply nowhere safe to go. Families are sheltering in war-damaged buildings at risk of collapse. In September, 21 people, including 12 children, were killed when a damaged building collapsed in Gaza City.

Jan Egeland, Norwegian Refugee Council Secretary General, said:

"It is utterly shameful that a full year after the ceasefire was signed, so little has improved for Palestinians in Gaza. Families are still being forced to make impossible choices, between sheltering in damaged and dangerous buildings or living in tents facing unbearable temperatures. Israeli restrictions are still preventing the required equipment or materials, which are the only ways for communities to begin rebuilding their lives. As winter approaches, all governments must take concrete steps to ensure that the flow of aid increases without hindrance, so that Palestinians can finally begin the vast task of recovery and reconstruction.”

These same restrictions are devastating essential services. Not one of Gaza’s 36 hospitals is fully functioning, while medicines, equipment and fuel remain critically scarce. Newborn babies in incubators, patients requiring oxygen or intensive care, older people and people with disabilities and life-changing injuries are among those facing acute risks as specialised treatment, rehabilitation and assistive services remain severely limited.

More than 18,500 patients, including at least 4,000 children, still need medical evacuation, and over 1,000 have died waiting.

Meanwhile, 1.4 million people are facing crisis-level hunger or worse through the end of the year. At the same time, unsafe water and devastated sanitation systems continue to drive the spread of preventable disease.

A year on, the pattern is unmistakable. Families are still being killed. Children are still dying of preventable illness. Gaza is still littered with unexploded ordnance. Homes lie in rubble that cannot be cleared, and aid cannot reach the people who so desperately need it. This is not what a ceasefire was meant to deliver. It reflects the same conditions that twice led the UN Commission of Inquiry, in September 2025 and again in June 2026, to conclude that Israel has committed genocide. The international community’s responsibility does not end with an agreement on paper.

Agnes Callmard, Secretary-General of Amnesty International, said:

"Accountability cannot be swept under the rubble. The recovery and future of Gaza cannot be separated from a framework grounded in international law, justice, and the rights of victims. The persistent failure to hold Israel accountable and press Israel to comply with the International Court of Justice’s binding orders continues to fuel the atrocity crimes on a mass scale against Palestinians.”

Signatories

1. A New Policy

2. Act Church of Sweden

3. Action For Humanity

4. ActionAid

5. Agricultural Development Association (PARC)

6. Ajyal Association for Creativity & Development

7. Alanqaa Association for Community Development

8. Al Najda Social Association

9. Al-dameer Association for Human Rights

10. Al-Foukhary Association For Rural Development

11. Al-Muntada Cultural Forum for Youth

12. Alrahma charitable society for rehabilitation

13. Alwaleed Charity Association

14. American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)

15. Amnesty International

16. Applied Research Institute-Jerusalem

17. Arab Agronomists Association

18. Arab Center for Agricultural Development (ACAD)

19. Basma Society for Culture and Arts.

20. Beesan Benevolent Association

21. Brilliant Tomorrow for Homes Sons Society

22. Bystanders No More

23. Caritas Internationalis

24. Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD)

25. Catholic Caucus , Christians for Free Palestine

26. Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC)

27. CESVI

28. Child Rights International Network (CRIN)

29. Children Not Numbers

30. Choose Love

31. Christian Aid

32. Christian Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

33. Churches for Middle East Peace

34. CIDSE - International family of Catholic social justice organisations

35. CNCD-11.11.11

36. Community Development and Media Center – CDMC

37. Council for Arab-British Understanding (Caabu)

38. DanChurchAid

39. Danish Muslim Aid

40. Danish Refugee Council

41. DEFENCE FOR CHILDREN INTERNATIONAL

42. Democracy and Workers' Rights Center in Palestine

43. Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN)

44. Doctors Against Genocide

45. Dr. Haider Abdel Shafi Center for Culture and Development

46. Etijahat Center

47. Fares Al-Arab for Development and Charity Works

48. Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR)

49. Friends Committee on National Legislation

50. Future Association for Development & Environment (FADE)

51. Gaza Urban & Peri-urban Agriculture Platform

52. General Palestinian Union For People With Disabilities

53. Give Palestine Association

54. Glia

55. Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P)

56. Global Legal Action Network (GLAN)

57. Greenpeace International

58. HelpAge International

59. Human Rights and Democracy Media Center-SHAMS

60. Humanity and Inclusion (Handicap International)

61. International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights- ICSPR

62. International Development and Relief Foundation (IDRF)

63. International Media Support

64. Islamic Relief

65. JAHALIN SOLIDARITY

66. Japan International Volunteer Center (JVC)

67. Just Foreign Policy

68. Karama for Culture and Arts

69. Kotof El-Khair Association

70. LABOR RESOURCES CENTER

71. Local Communities Organization

72. MA'AN Development Center

73. Médecins du Monde International Network

74. Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP)

75. Medico international

76. Mennonite Central Committee

77. Nafs for Empowerment

78. National Justice and Peace Network

79. Nipponzan Myohoji - New England Peace Pagoda

80. Nonviolent Peaceforce

81. Norwegian Church Aid

82. Norwegian People's Aid

83. Norwegian Refugee Council

84. Olof Palme International Center

85. Oxfam

86. Palestine Association for Development and Justice

87. Palestine Avenir for Childhood Foundation

88. Palestinian Crescent Society for Relief and Development

89. Palestinian NGOs Network (PNGO)

90. Palestinian Women Union Association

91. Pax Christi England and Wales

92. Pax Christi International

93. Peace Action

94. Peace Action New York State

95. Première Urgence Internationale

96. Priests Against Genocide USA

97. Refugees International

98. Right to Childhood

99. Roya Association For Development Abilities

100. Saferworld

101. Save the Children

102. Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund

103. Society of Women Graduates

104. Taghreed Association for Culture and Development

105. Tearfund

106. Terre des Hommes Foundation

107. Terre des Hommes Germany

108. Terre des Hommes Italy

109. Terre des Hommes Netherlands

110. The Coalition for Accountability and Integrity - AMAN

111. The Danish House in Palestine (DHIP)

112. The Middle East Children's Alliance

113. The Palestinian Developmental Women Studies Association (PDWSA)

114. United Against Inhumanity (UAI)

115. United Nations Association - Denmark

116. UNRWA USA National Committee

117. War Child Alliance

118. Women's Program Center- Beach Camp

119. Youth Vision Society

120. Zeina women Charity ZWC