Continued Erosion of Gaza Ceasefire Agreement

Eight months after a ceasefire agreement was nominally put in place for Gaza, its terms appear to be progressively deteriorating. While Palestinian factions gathered in Cairo to discuss advancing the agreement's initial phase, reports indicate that Israel has deepened its presence in Gaza. This includes extending earth barriers along an expanding 'Yellow Line,' conducting nightly home demolitions, and carrying out strikes that have resulted in numerous fatalities among displaced families. According to Gaza's Ministry of Health, the post-ceasefire death toll has now exceeded 970.

Following a recent exchange of fire with Iran, Israel completely sealed Gaza's remaining open crossings, though they were later announced to reopen. Concurrently, in the occupied West Bank, there has been an intensification of Israeli settler violence, land seizures, and military raids, with residents and human rights monitors alleging that soldiers have either stood by or actively participated in these incidents.

Redrawing the Map in Gaza

Following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent statements advocating for Israel's control to extend to 'first 70 percent [of Gaza],' significantly beyond the boundaries outlined in the October ceasefire agreement, residents and local monitoring groups in Gaza have reported Israeli forces expanding earth mounds, known as berms, along the 'Yellow Line.' This line, which troops are ostensibly meant to hold, is reportedly being pushed westward across the Strip.

Activities observed include land excavation at al-Zaarba in southern Gaza's Mawasi Rafah, the leveling of farmland and greenhouses south of Khan Younis, the placement of yellow concrete markers near Ard al-Limon and in Rafah's al-Bardawil neighborhood, and the burning of agricultural land towards the Netzarim corridor.

Amidst these developments, residents and local activists have also reported evacuation warnings preceding demolitions across the Gaza Strip. Residential blocks east and northeast of Khan Younis have reportedly been demolished almost nightly, with blasts audible across the central Strip. Satellite imagery analyzed by Israeli researcher Or Fialkov suggests the line has been pushed further into Beit Lahia, Netzarim, and southern Khan Younis, encompassing the northern, central, and southern parts of Gaza. Preliminary assessments suggest Israel is approximately one month away from controlling 70 percent of Gaza.

Widening Deadly Attacks in Gaza

As Israel expanded its control within the Strip, military operations have repeatedly targeted displaced civilians in tent encampments and crowded apartment buildings. On June 4, the Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that 11 individuals were killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza City. Among the casualties were five members of the Labad family – Hassan Rabah Labad, his wife Manar, sons Mohammed and Tamim, and daughter Rahaf – leaving nine-year-old Hala as the sole survivor, according to Gaza activist Hamza al-Masri. The Israeli army and domestic intelligence later informed Israeli media that these strikes had eliminated senior commanders of Hamas's internal security apparatus, identifying Hassan Labad as a deputy head. This incident was part of a series of fatalities throughout the week.

On June 5, Wafa reported that an armed helicopter strike on a tent in Khan Younis killed 18-year-old Bushra al-Barahmeh. Gaza’s Civil Defence stated that on June 6, a drone strike hit a tent sheltering the displaced Qaddoum family near Gaza City’s passport office, killing eight people, including a father who had celebrated his first child’s birth the previous day. Hours earlier, a strike on a family home in Khan Younis resulted in the death of 26-year-old Muhannad Farwana on what was intended to be his wedding day.

On June 7, Israeli forces killed at least 13 Palestinians across al-Mawasi, Gaza City, and Deir el-Balah, including five at a police post on al-Rashid Street and four – among them a woman and a child – near the al-Buraq School in Gaza City. In each instance, the army asserted that it had targeted fighters but did not provide corroborating evidence. At sea, Israeli naval forces reportedly killed two fishermen off Deir el-Balah over the weekend and detained four others, according to Wafa. On June 8, Palestinian health officials told Reuters that six Palestinians, including a child, had been killed by Israeli attacks. Gaza’s Ministry of Health indicated that May was the deadliest month of the year to date, with 119 fatalities.

These fatalities occurred against the backdrop of a deteriorating humanitarian system, as reported by the United Nations. Israel has kept the northern Zikim Crossing closed since late May, channeling all aid through the single, congested Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing. Simultaneously, funding reductions are compelling aid organizations to scale back food and water provisions. The UN estimates that prices in Gaza are 235 percent higher than pre-October 2023 levels. In a rare judicial intervention, Israel’s Supreme Court overturned a blanket ban on Red Cross visits to over 9,000 Palestinian prisoners, even as the lawyer for the detained Kamal Adwan Hospital director, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, stated his client had been moved to solitary confinement.

It was within this complex environment that Palestinian factions arrived in Cairo, engaging with Egyptian, Qatari, and Turkish mediators to discuss the second phase of the ceasefire. Hamas indicated to Al Jazeera its willingness to transfer governance to a technocratic national committee and to keep weapons off Gaza's streets, but stipulated that it would not disarm outright, linking any decommissioning to an Israeli withdrawal. Israel and the Trump-appointed Board of Peace envoy Nickolay Mladenov have conditioned the next phase of the ceasefire on disarmament.

Settler Violence Intensifies in West Bank

Recent days have seen a surge in videos and photographs depicting settlers igniting farmland and olive groves across the Ramallah and Nablus countryside. Incidents were reported in areas such as Burin, where residents stated settlers started four fires simultaneously while soldiers reportedly obstructed fire crews; in Madama, Jalud, as-Sawiya, Duma, Deir Sharaf, Shuqba, and repeatedly in al-Mughayyir, where flames neared residential homes. Videos showed soldiers reportedly standing alongside settlers near burning fields. These arson attacks are occurring during a period when farmers typically harvest crops like wheat and barley.

Local activists also described police accompanying settlers in the alleged theft of crops at al-Farsh and Wad al-Rakhim. In Hawwara, footage reportedly showed a soldier joining settlers in assaulting two Palestinians during a mass settler attack that local medics said injured at least nine individuals. In Jiljiliya, local activist networks reported three settlers, one masked and carrying a military-issued rifle, attacking workers on June 7, striking Yousef Sumaya with the rifle barrel before firing into the air. This occurred in the same village where a settler reportedly killed 16-year-old Yousef Kaabneh last month. Al Jazeera has sought comment from Israeli authorities regarding allegations of soldier involvement in these attacks but has not yet received a response.

The volatile situation in the West Bank also saw two young Palestinians, including an infant, killed by Israeli forces. On the morning of June 5, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced the killing of 18-year-old Haitham Ezzedine Omar Hamida during an overnight raid in Beitin; the Israeli military stated that a group of Palestinians had thrown petrol bombs at Israeli drivers. On the same day near Hebron, troops opened fire on a family car, killing seven-month-old Sam Abu Haikal and wounding his parents. The army stated that soldiers had fired on a vehicle accelerating towards them – a justification offered in similar past incidents – and that an inquiry found the casualties were uninvolved civilians.

Alongside this violence, a succession of dispossession orders has been issued. Military orders this week placed additional land under state control, while Israel’s Higher Planning Council approved an extra 2,162 settlement units near occupied East Jerusalem, Nablus, and Hebron. Meanwhile, UNRWA announced that the closures of the Tulkarem and Nur Shams camps, which have displaced over 33,000 Palestinian refugees since early last year, have been extended until the end of July. On the morning of June 7, Israeli police reported a shooting near Kochav Yair in Israel that killed one Israeli and wounded several. Two Palestinian suspects were killed, and within hours, Wafa reported that Israel tightened closures across Tulkarem and Qalqilya, neighboring cities on the other side of Israel’s separation wall.

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