The October 2025 ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was supposed to mark the beginning of a transition from war to governance, reconstruction and de‑escalation in Gaza. Instead, more than nine months on, the enclave’s health system remains in acute crisis, hospitals are still under fire, and civilian deaths continue at a pace that suggests the truce exists more on paper than on the ground. The latest joint statement by the mediators—Qatar, Egypt and Türkiye—makes this starkly clear.
“The Republic of Türkiye, the Arab Republic of Egypt and the State of Qatar, in their capacity as the mediating countries, express their strong condemnation and denunciation of the ongoing Israeli violations in the Gaza Strip, particularly the targeting of healthcare facilities and medical infrastructure, and the resulting civilian casualties, including women and children, which constitute a flagrant violation of international law and international humanitarian law,”
they said in a statement released on 3 August 2026.
This is not merely diplomatic language. It is a direct warning that the core promise of the peace process—protection of civilians and basic services—is failing, and that the political roadmap for “phase two” of the US‑backed plan is at serious risk.
The mediators’ warning: violations threaten phase two
The mediators’ statement links the health crisis directly to the viability of the broader peace architecture. They stressed that continued Israeli military action
“constitutes a breach of the agreement and undermines the efforts aimed at implementing its second phase, particularly following Hamas and the Palestinian factions’ announcement of their acceptance of the roadmap, especially the provision concerning the confinement of weapons.”
In other words, at a moment when Palestinian factions have signalled readiness to move on disarmament and governance arrangements, renewed strikes on hospitals and civilians are eroding trust and giving hardliners on all sides room to argue that the plan cannot work.
They went further, warning that
“these violations threaten the path toward de‑escalation and exacerbate the suffering of civilians in the Gaza Strip,”
and called on the international community to
“assume its responsibilities and exert the necessary pressure on Israel to fulfill its obligations under international law and the ceasefire agreement, in a manner that ensures the completion of President Trump’s peace plan.”
Jordan quickly endorsed this line, with its foreign ministry spokesman Fuad al‑Majali stating that
“continued Israeli attacks and violations in the Gaza Strip against Palestinians represent a breach of the ceasefire agreement and international law,”
and that targeting healthcare facilities and killing civilians, including women and children, “constitute a breach of international humanitarian law.”
The numbers: over 1,000 dead since the ceasefire began
Behind the diplomatic language are grim statistics. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, cited by Jordan and other outlets, at least 1,250 Palestinians have been killed and 4,110 injured since the ceasefire took effect on 10 October 2025. Other sources, including Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), put the death toll at over 1,005 and injuries at 3,157, alongside more than 3,000 recorded violations by Israeli forces during the same period. The Gaza Government Media Office has documented at least 3,076 ceasefire violations between October 2025 and May 2026, including airstrikes, artillery fire and direct shootings.
Human Rights Watch and other monitors have similarly documented hundreds of killings and thousands of injuries during the truce, describing a pattern in which Israeli operations continue to “curb aid, kill civilians” despite the formal cessation of hostilities. These figures matter because they show that the ceasefire has not stopped lethal violence; it has merely reduced its intensity while leaving the underlying dynamics of attack and retaliation largely intact.
Hospitals under fire: a system on the brink of collapse
The most visible and politically charged dimension of this crisis is the assault on healthcare. The mediators singled out
“the targeting of healthcare facilities and medical infrastructure”
as a central violation, and the data supports their concern. WHO and health cluster reports indicate that 176 health facilities have been affected, including 36 hospitals damaged, with only 19 of 36 hospitals partially functional by the end of March 2026 and just 52% of primary care centres operational. By mid‑2026, some assessments said only 20 of 37 hospitals remained partially functional and no hospital was fully functioning, while more than 1,825 health facilities had been damaged or destroyed.
The OHCHR and WHO have documented repeated attacks on and around hospitals, pushing the system to the “point of almost complete collapse.” As of late 2025, the UN human rights office recorded at least 17 Israeli attacks on or near health facilities in Gaza City in a single two‑week period, leaving sick and injured civilians
“with nowhere to turn to for life‑saving care.”
More recently, in early August 2026, medicine warehouses next to a hospital were hit, with two storage facilities completely destroyed and two badly damaged; Gaza’s Health Ministry called this a “heinous crime” and appealed for international protection of medical sites.
Jordan’s statement echoed this, stressing the need to “ensure full protection for civilians, medical facilities and humanitarian workers in the Strip,” and calling for
“sufficient and sustainable humanitarian aid to enter Gaza without obstacles.”
The mediators similarly renewed their call for
“ensuring the full protection of civilians, medical facilities, and humanitarian personnel, and for guaranteeing the unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance and medical supplies throughout the Gaza Strip.”
The humanitarian siege: famine, fuel shortages and disease
The health crisis cannot be separated from the wider humanitarian siege. The Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) declared famine conditions in Gaza City and surrounding areas in 2025, with the entire population facing crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity. Reports highlight severe fuel shortages, darkened hospitals, collapsed diagnostic services—with only around two functioning CT scanners for the entire enclave—and massive stockouts of essential medicines. In April 2026, 62% of primary healthcare medications were out of stock, and WHO recorded 22 attacks on healthcare facilities in the early months of 2026 alone.
Disease outbreaks have surged alongside malnutrition and displacement. In a single week in mid‑2026, over 18,000 new cases of chickenpox, skin infections and parasitic infestations were recorded, straining already crippled clinics. The UN and NGOs describe a situation in which
“health services [are] into a cycle of acute dysfunction, despite more than six months having passed since the ceasefire agreement was signed,”
due to restrictions on medical equipment and rehabilitation materials and the overwhelming pressure on the few remaining operational facilities.
Israel’s stance: security, militants and enforcement
Israeli officials have generally framed ongoing operations as targeted actions against militants and necessary to enforce security commitments under the ceasefire and the broader peace plan. Public statements often stress that Hamas and other groups have not fully disarmed and that some military activity is a response to rocket fire or militant movements. From this perspective, strikes near or affecting hospitals are portrayed as unfortunate but unavoidable consequences of fighting in densely populated areas where armed groups operate.
However, the mediators and rights groups argue that this logic does not absolve Israel of its obligations under international humanitarian law, which requires distinction, proportionality and precaution in attacks, and special protection for medical facilities. The mediators’ insistence that Israel must “comply with all of its obligations under international law and to fully uphold its commitments under the ceasefire agreement” is a direct challenge to the notion that security concerns justify systematic damage to hospitals and high civilian casualties.
Hamas and Palestinian factions: acceptance of the roadmap
A key element of the mediators’ argument is that Palestinian factions have signalled readiness to move forward. They noted that the violations persist
“despite Hamas and other Palestinian factions announcing their acceptance of the roadmap, especially the provision concerning the confinement of weapons.”
This is politically significant: it undercuts narratives that the peace process is stalled because Hamas refuses to engage, and shifts scrutiny onto Israeli actions that continue to kill civilians and destroy infrastructure even as factions claim compliance.
Gaza’s Health Ministry and Government Media Office have been consistent in denouncing Israeli strikes as war crimes and systematic targeting of civilians and health infrastructure, providing the casualty and violation counts cited above. Their messaging reinforces the mediators’ core point: that the health crisis is not an accidental by‑product of war, but a central feature of the post‑ceasefire reality that threatens any durable political settlement.
What the health crisis means for peace
The destruction and chronic dysfunction of Gaza’s health system is not just a humanitarian tragedy; it is a structural obstacle to peace. Hospitals are among the last functioning public institutions in Gaza; they are also symbolic of the state’s (or quasi‑state’s) ability to protect and care for its population. When hospitals are repeatedly hit, when medical staff are killed or displaced, and when patients cannot access basic diagnostics or medicines, the message to civilians is that neither the ceasefire nor the political process can guarantee their most basic right: the right to life and health.
This dynamic fuels resentment, undermines moderate voices, and makes it easier for armed groups to argue that only resistance, not negotiation, can secure safety and dignity. The mediators’ warning that
“the continued humanitarian suffering in Gaza threatens the complete collapse of the calm process and a return to comprehensive escalation”
captures this risk in stark terms. If phase two of the peace plan is to have any chance, it must begin with a credible, enforceable commitment to protect hospitals, allow medical supplies and fuel, and end lethal violations that keep the death toll climbing.
A test for the international community
The mediators’ call for the international community to
“assume its responsibilities and exert the necessary pressure on Israel”
places the onus on states that have backed the US‑led plan while tolerating ongoing violations. Jordan’s appeal to
“pressure Israel to fulfill its obligations under international law and ensure the implementation of all provisions of the US President’s Gaza plan”
reinforces this. Without such pressure, the health crisis will continue to erode trust, and the ceasefire will remain a fragile, violated arrangement rather than a foundation for lasting peace.
In practical terms, this means not just condemning hospital strikes after they happen, but tying aid, diplomatic support and security cooperation to verifiable compliance with ceasefire terms and international humanitarian law. It also means ensuring that reconstruction funds and medical supplies actually reach Gaza’s hospitals and clinics, rather than being blocked or delayed by access restrictions.
The central lesson of the past nine months is simple: there can be no sustainable peace in Gaza while its hospitals remain under fire and its health system teeters on collapse. The mediators’ statement, backed by Jordan and echoed by rights groups, makes clear that the current trajectory is incompatible with the stated goals of de‑escalation, governance reform and reconstruction. If the international community is serious about the peace plan, it must treat attacks on hospitals and the broader health crisis not as collateral damage, but as a direct threat to the entire project—and act accordingly.
