oPt: A year after Gaza “ceasefire”, genocide continues as hospitals still struggle for medicines, fuel and vital supplies

Country: occupied Palestinian territory Source: Medical Aid for Palestinians “We see homes and neighbourhoods disappearing, totally effaced. We see what is being destroyed, and we know that erasing the evidence does not erase what happened. We are still here. We witnessed it. We remember”. Nearly a year after the Gaza ceasefire was announced on 10 October 2025, the Israeli military is still killing and injuring Palestinians, healthcare facilities are still being attacked, and hospitals are struggling to get the medicines, fuel and other supplies they need amid Israel’s ongoing, suffocating blockade on aid Israeli forces have killed more than 1, 400 Palestinians and injured over 5, 000 people since the so-called “ceasefire” began, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza. Israeli military attacks have continued amidst its genocide, while restrictions on aid and medical supplies have left Gaza’s health system with little chance to recover. Fikr Shalltoot, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP)’s Gaza Director, said: “A year ago, Palestinians were told that the killing would stop and they would have a chance to rebuild their lives. Instead, they have spent the past year living with continued death, displacement and destruction. How much more are Palestinians expected to endure? Another child without a parent? Another family forced from its home? Another patient dying because they cannot get the urgent treatment they need? Palestinians should not have to spend another year simply striving to stay alive as this genocide continues with impunity. Only when the killing stops, hospitals can function, families have enough food and clean water, and Palestinians can return home and begin rebuilding their lives can we call this a ceasefire. ” The “Yellow Line” is forcing people from their homes and cutting off essential services Under the ceasefire agreement, the “Yellow Line” was established as the line behind which Israeli forces were to withdraw. Israeli forces have since advanced beyond it and now control around 70% of Gaza, leaving more than two million Palestinians confined to the remaining areas. The movement of the line has already forced people from their homes, while those living nearby face the possibility of being displaced. MAP staff members Mona Ramadan and Haitham Al Saqqa have experienced this first-hand: Mona has been displaced from her home, while Haitham still lives close to the “Yellow Line” and fears he may be forced to leave. Mona Ramadan, Communications Assistant at MAP, said: “Our land is being taken from us. The ‘Yellow Line’ they have drawn around us is moving further every day. Ten metres here, a hundred metres there, as if no one is watching. But we are watching. A short time ago, my family received the news that the ‘Yellow Line’ had advanced further into Beit Lahia, beyond the rubble of our home. It has become impossible even to look at the area without risking being targeted or shot at by the Israeli military. We heard this news and immediately thought of the people buried beneath the rubble of our home: my father and my brother. Killing them was not enough. Their graves have been erased, too. To me, the word “yellow” in the ‘Yellow Line’ has come to mean everything that is left behind it: deserted, emptied, erased. We see homes and neighbourhoods disappearing, totally effaced. We see what is being destroyed, and we know that erasing the evidence does not erase what happened. We are still here. We witnessed it. We remember. Today, I am displaced in Deir al-Balah, and I know I may never return to Beit Lahia. My father and my brother are still buried beneath the rubble of our home. Their graves are gone, just like everything else inside the ‘Yellow Line’ has been erased. And what hurts even more is knowing that, even if we had been able to recover them and give them a proper burial, even those graves would not have been safe. They could have been dug up and erased too among this evil yellow line What has happened in Gaza cannot simply be erased. You can destroy homes, hospitals, streets and entire neighbourhoods. You can erase places from the map. But you cannot erase what happened to the people who lived there. We carry it with us. We remember every loss, every displacement, every moment we were forced to endure. And we will carry those memories for the rest of our lives. We are still here. We are still watching. We are still remembering. For those who remain near the” Yellow Line”, the threat of displacement is never far away. Haitham Al Saqqa, MAP’s Nutrition Programme Officer in Gaza, lives around 700-800 metres from it. Haitham Al Saqqa, MAP’s Nutrition Programme Officer in Gaza, said: “Living around 700-800 metres from the “Yellow Line” means it is never something distant from our lives. We hear gunfire throughout the day, sometimes bullets hit the walls of our home, and at night we see the lights from military positions and hear vehicles and aircraft. You become sensitive to every sound, always trying to understand what it means and knowing that the situation can change within seconds. Inside our own home, we have had to change the way we live. There are parts of the apartment where we do not allow our children because we are afraid of stray bullets. At night, some areas are completely off-limits because they are more exposed. It is difficult to explain what it feels like to be in your own home and still have to think about which rooms are safe. This fear affects every part of daily life. I stop my children from playing outside because I am afraid something could happen without warning. I cannot simply decide to stay out later, visit someone or take my family to watch the sunset. Even taking my son to hospital when he was ill became frightening because getting onto the street and finding transport felt dangerous. The uncertainty is perhaps the hardest part. The “Yellow” Line has shifted, and we do not know whether it could move again or force us from our home. Almost every day, my family asks whether we should stay or look for somewhere else. But where would we go? We have already lost and left so much. We want our children to have some sense of normal family life, so for now we stay and try to make the most of being together in our own home. But there is always the same question in the back of our minds: will we still be here tomorrow? ” A year on, Gaza’s health system is still under attack The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recorded 56 attacks on healthcare in Gaza between January and August 2026, killing 10 people and injuring 49. Just 35 of Gaza’s 57 hospitals and field hospitals remain partially functional, and there are no fully functioning hospitals. On 15 September, a 65-year-old patient was killed while seeking treatment at a MAP-supported medical point in Jabalia, northern Gaza, after an Israeli military quadcopter fired at the facility. The hospital is close to the “Yellow Line”, and staff say it has come under fire repeatedly. The following week, a MAP-supported medical point in Abu Madeen, central Gaza, was evacuated after Israeli gunfire seriously injured a woman and a child nearby. A stray bullet also struck the medical point’s rooftop water tank while around 40 patients were inside. Both medical points serve up to 250 people per day At Kamal Adwan Hospital, now around 150 metres from the “Yellow Line”, MAP’s neonatal project has been suspended. Access to the hospital requires coordination, while the WHO has had six requests to reach the hospital denied. The hospital had only just resumed services in March, providing primary and emergency care to around 100-120 patients a day, before it suspended operations again on 3 September after Israeli military forces advanced towards the hospital and heavy gunfire was reported nearby. MAP has also had to suspend its project helping people recover after brain and nerve injuries and conditions at the European Gaza Hospital, after the hospital became inaccessible and was taken out of service. The project is now being delivered at Nasser Hospital, adding to the immense pressure on a hospital already struggling to meet the needs of patients across southern Gaza. MAP-supported latrines for 40 families in Rafah and eastern Khan Younis were lost after the areas fell behind the “Yellow Line”, and the families were displaced to other parts of Gaza. World leaders must act urgently to: Enforce a permanent ceasefire and an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Support international accountability mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court, to investigate attacks on healthcare and other serious violations of international law, while taking concrete action to ensure humanitarian aid and medical supplies can enter Gaza without obstruction. Suspend all arms sales to Israel immediately, including components for F-35 fighter jets, and end all military cooperation. Suspend the UK-Israel trade agreement until Israel’s widespread violations of international law are brought to an end. Support international accountability mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court, to investigate attacks on healthcare and other serious violations of international law. [ENDS] Our spokespeople are available to interview on request. Please contact the press office to arrange at: press@map. org. uk or +44 (0) 203 869 1310 About Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) www. map. org. uk Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) works for a future where every Palestinian has access to a comprehensive, effective and locally-led system of healthcare, and the full realisation of their rights to health and dignity. We have worked for more than 40 years in the occupied Palestinian territory and in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. MAP’s local team in Gaza continues to deliver our largest humanitarian response in our history in order to meet critical health and humanitarian needs caused by more than two year’s of Israel’s genocide. Last year, MAP and our local partners delivered nearly two million vital healthcare and humanitarian services to Palestinians in Gaza.

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