One year on

The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect on 10 October 2025, after both accepted a proposal from the United States for the future of the enclave. A year later the second phase has not started, and there are no direct contacts between the parties, according to Europa Press. Gaza's health ministry counted more than 1,470 Palestinians killed since the truce, about four a day, and more than 5,100 injured. Figures differ by source and date. Tagesschau cites more than 1,400 deaths over the past year, La Vanguardia at least 1,400 including 300 children, and the UN, citing ministry data, recorded 1,431 deaths notified through 30 September.

Killings and the yellow line

EL PAÍS reported that the ministry's count for Friday stood at 1,477 dead, 308 of them minors and 154 women, with 5,205 injured. Israel's army now rarely announces the targets of its strikes, the paper noted. Last week Israeli military intelligence chief Shlomi Binder said that about 4,000 of the 6,000 Gazans who crossed into Israel during Hamas's attack of October 2023 had been killed, not all of them militants. A bombing the previous week killed two Christian civilians, prompting Pope Leo XIV to send a message of condolence to the priest of Gaza's only Catholic parish, the Holy Family church.

Europa Press reports that the yellow line, where Israeli forces pulled back after the deal, grew from about 51% of the Strip to more than 60%, and that Netanyahu said it would stay in place until Hamas disarms. La Vanguardia gives a different figure, saying Israeli forces now hold about 65% of Gaza and that Netanyahu aims for 70%. Médecins Sans Frontières described the line in starker terms.

The yellow line has become a mechanism of encirclement and ethnic cleansing.

Talks stalled over disarmament

Trump's 20-point plan created two bodies, led by the Board of Peace, to steer the process, but political talks remain stuck. In July, Trump announced that Hamas would hand over its weapons on condition that Israel withdrew from Gaza. Tel Aviv has rejected that condition while saying it will keep advancing, according to La Vanguardia. El Periódico describes the deadlock: Hamas ties weapons talks to guarantees of Israeli withdrawal, while Israel demands full disarmament before pulling its troops out. Hamas still controls part of the Strip, and the handover of government to a transitional Palestinian administration has not happened. EL PAÍS reports that the Board of Peace announced last month a six-month strategic plan and 2,450 million dollars for reconstruction.

Regional war and Israel's election

El Periódico says the war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran on 28 February 2026 shifted the region's priorities. Hezbollah entered the conflict in support of Tehran, and Israel launched a new offensive in Lebanon with ground incursions and bombing. Israel holds elections on 27 October, and the same editorial says Netanyahu must answer for the security failures of 7 October and for the lack of a lasting solution in Gaza.

Life in the shelters

Tagesschau reports that, according to the UN, about 1.5 million people in Gaza live in tents or emergency shelters. Médecins Sans Frontières surgeon Murad Asaliyya, who runs medical activities at the organisation's field hospital in Deir al Balah, described the wounds his team still treats.

In our hospital, we continue to receive people with war wounds. Last month, we performed several amputations, many of them on children.

Save the Children's executive director Inger Ashing, speaking in a statement from around 100 NGOs, said the truce 'exists only on paper'.

A ceasefire makes no sense if children are still being killed and families still cannot rebuild their lives.