One year ago, on October 10, 2025, Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire brokered by the United States and Arab mediators, raising hopes that the war in Gaza was finally coming to a close. Twelve months later, humanitarian organizations say the territory is still far from recovered, even as the guns have largely, though not entirely, gone quiet.
The ceasefire grew out of a 20-point peace plan put forward by President Trump, which set out a path from an initial truce toward reconstruction and a new governing structure for Gaza. In the weeks after it took effect, aid groups cleared rubble from main roads and reopened some access routes, humanitarian steps that allowed people to move around the territory more freely than during the war itself.
But more than 100 humanitarian, human rights and civil society organizations say that broader progress has stalled. According to figures reported by Gaza's Health Ministry, roughly 1,490 people were killed and more than 5,200 wounded in the territory between the start of the ceasefire and mid-October, on top of a cumulative toll of more than 74,000 deaths reported since the war began in October 2023. Amnesty International said in a joint statement that nearly two million people in Gaza still need shelter, that no hospital in the territory is fully functioning, and that 1.4 million people face crisis-level hunger. Beyond emergency rubble clearing, there has been little large-scale rebuilding of housing or infrastructure. Over the course of the ceasefire, the area under Israeli military control inside Gaza has also expanded, from an initial 53 percent to around 63 percent, with roughly 40 military posts now maintained in that zone.
The anniversary matters because the Gaza ceasefire is the most significant test yet of whether the broader peace framework championed by the Trump administration can move from a pause in fighting to lasting stability and reconstruction. How quickly shelter, hospitals and aid delivery improve will shape whether the ceasefire is seen as a durable foundation or merely an interruption.
Humanitarian agencies are pressing for expanded access for rebuilding materials and medical supplies, while mediators continue to monitor compliance on both sides as the second phase of the peace plan, covering governance and security arrangements, remains unresolved.
When did the Gaza ceasefire begin?
It took effect on October 10, 2025, under a deal brokered by the United States and Arab mediators.
Has reconstruction in Gaza begun?
Humanitarian groups say only emergency steps like rubble clearing from main roads have happened, with large-scale rebuilding of housing and infrastructure still largely unstarted.
- Al Jazeera: Gaza ceasefire 'exists in name only,' more than 100 NGOs say
- Amnesty International: Gaza ceasefire exists in name only, say more than 100 organizations
- Times of Israel: One year into ceasefire, Gazans say they're still living like war never ended
- Washington Post: A year later, progress on the Gaza ceasefire has stalled