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Why are Israel and Hamas at war, and is the Gaza ceasefire holding?

A ceasefire took effect in October 2025, yet more than 100 aid and rights groups now say it exists in name only. The war that began on 7 October 2023 has paused rather than ended, and its effects reach food queues in Gaza and investment funds and prosecutors' offices in Europe.

Published 22 Oct 2026 Updated 22 Oct 2026 By Implica 13 sources 9 min read

THE SHORT ANSWER

Because Hamas, the Islamist group that has governed Gaza since 2007, attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, and Israel answered with a two-year bombardment and ground invasion. Behind that sits a conflict over land and self-determination that stretches back more than a century. A US-brokered ceasefire took effect on 10 October 2025 and paused the large-scale offensive in exchange for the remaining 48 hostages. It has not stopped the killing or the hardship.

What happened

On 8 October 2026, a year after the truce began, more than 100 humanitarian and rights organisations issued a joint statement. They included ActionAid, Oxfam, Amnesty International, Save the Children and Christian Aid. They said the ceasefire exists in name only. They reported more than 1,400 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces since it took effect, at least 327 of them children, along with continued limits on aid and rebuilding materials and no fully functioning hospitals in Gaza. They asked the governments that backed the agreement to pressure Israel, and asked donors to fund local groups directly. The reports so far do not include a response from Israel.

The war has also drawn reactions abroad. On 12 October, Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the Government Pension Fund Global, announced it had withdrawn $661 million from five Israeli banks after an ethical review. It said the banks carried an unacceptable risk of contributing to serious violations of individuals' rights in war and conflict. On 16 October, Rome prosecutors said they had placed Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz and 12 senior military, police and prison officials under investigation over the treatment of activists detained on Gaza-bound flotilla boats in 2025 and 2026. The case was earlier focused on National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

On 19 October, the World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations food agency, said it was forced to "drastically reduce lifesaving assistance" in Gaza because of funding shortages. It will cut the number of people it helps from 1.6 million to 1.1 million. Daily hot meals from community kitchens fall from 250,000 to 150,000. Flour and ration boxes will reach 600,000 people a month instead of 1.1 million. Its Palestine director, Shaun Hughes, said the cuts are about money and not because needs are falling or because the agency lacks access.

Why it matters

The war is the latest and deadliest stage of a conflict that has run for generations, and its truce is fragile. One reported count puts at least 77,271 people killed in the war as of 27 September 2026, including more than 75,000 Palestinians and more than 2,000 people in Israel. Nearly all of Gaza's 2.1 million people remain displaced, and winter is approaching as food aid shrinks. Meanwhile the legal and financial pressure on Israel is moving into European institutions, which shows the war's effects reaching well beyond the territory.

  • For people in Gaza, Nearly all of the 2.1 million residents are displaced, two thirds rely on food aid, and the WFP is cutting rations just as winter arrives. The World Health Organization (WHO) says no hospital is fully functioning.
  • For aid agencies and donors, The WFP says it urgently needs $450 million. Separately, the Board of Peace, a US-led body, has unveiled a $2.45 billion rebuilding plan, but of $18 billion pledged only $280 million has been paid.
  • For Israel and its officials, The Norwegian divestment and the Italian investigation add financial and legal pressure from Europe. Being under investigation does not imply guilt and does not automatically lead to a trial.
  • For Hamas, The October 2025 peace plan calls for it to disarm, with amnesty for members who do. The reports so far do not say how far that has gone.

The background: a century-old dispute over one piece of land

British rule, partition and 1948

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with the rise of political Zionism, a movement for a Jewish national home, and the arrival of Zionist settlers in Palestine. After the First World War, Britain ruled the territory under a mandate, and large-scale Jewish immigration began. From 1936 to 1939, Palestinian Arabs rose up against British rule and the rapid expansion of Jewish settlement.

On 29 November 1947, the UN General Assembly recommended a plan to partition Palestine into an Arab state, a Jewish state and an international city of Jerusalem. Israel declared its independence on 14 May 1948, and the Arab League sent forces into the former British territory. Over 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled. The Gaza Strip, a narrow coastal territory, absorbed tens of thousands of them, and by the end of the war a quarter of Mandatory Palestine's Arab population lived there.

Occupation, uprisings and Oslo

In June 1967, during the Six-Day War, Israel captured Gaza, along with the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israel has occupied the Palestinian territories since then, which one background source calls the longest military occupation in modern history. Closure of Gaza has a long history, dating back to 1991 and made more acute after 2000.

The first Palestinian uprising, or intifada, began in 1987, and Hamas was established in the same year. It grew out of the Muslim Brotherhood's network of mosques and charities in Gaza. In 1993 and 1995, Israeli and Palestinian leaders signed the Oslo Accords, which created the Palestinian Authority. In May 1994 much of Gaza came under Palestinian control. After the failed Camp David summit in July 2000, a second intifada began in September 2000.

Hamas takes Gaza

In 2005, Israel withdrew from Gaza and dismantled its settlements. In the Palestinian parliamentary election of January 2006, Hamas won a plurality of the vote. Israel responded that it would impose economic sanctions unless Hamas accepted earlier agreements, renounced violence and recognised Israel. Hamas and its rival Fatah then fell out, and in 2007 Hamas took control of Gaza. One background source says it exercised executive authority there until July 2026. The material does not say what changed.

Since then Israel and Egypt have kept a blockade on Gaza, which Israel says answers security concerns such as weapons smuggling. Israel and Hamas fought wars in 2008 and 2009 and in 2014, and the territory saw another crisis in 2021. Before the 2021 crisis, Gaza had 48 percent unemployment and half its people lived in poverty.

7 October 2023 and the war

On 7 October 2023, Hamas-led fighters attacked Israel. One count puts 1,195 Israelis and foreign nationals killed, and 251 people were taken hostage into Gaza. Israel declared war on 9 October. On 27 October, after building up an invasion force of over 100,000 soldiers, it launched a large-scale ground incursion into northern Gaza.

Ceasefire efforts followed. An agreement announced on 15 January 2025, through Qatari mediation, took effect on 19 January and provided for hostage releases in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. On 18 March, Israel ended it with a surprise attack that killed over 400 people, and both sides blamed the other. In early May, Israel announced plans to expand the offensive. The scale of destruction in Gaza ranks among the most severe in modern history.

The October 2025 truce and its first year

On 29 September 2025, US President Donald Trump proposed a 20-point plan. It included the release of all hostages, an end to the war, Israeli withdrawal, Hamas disarmament and a temporary transitional government. Israel accepted it, and Arab and Muslim states urged Hamas to agree. The first phase took effect on 10 October 2025, with the release of the remaining 48 hostages in exchange for a pause in the large-scale offensive. The plan also calls for amnesty for Hamas members who disarm and interim governance by a Palestinian technocratic body overseen by an international commission headed by Trump.

The truce lowered the intensity of fighting but did not end it. In August 2026, an aid official was reported killed in an Israeli strike, one of the truce violations that Implica reported were killing Palestinians nearly daily. In September, the Board of Peace unveiled its reconstruction blueprint. On 2 October, the WHO said medical supplies face a median 74-day wait for Israeli clearance. Then came the aid groups' joint statement, the Norwegian and Italian moves, and the WFP cuts.

GOOD TO KNOW

Nearly all of Gaza's 2.1 million people remain displaced, and two thirds rely on food aid to survive, according to the BBC's report on the WFP cuts.

Why is Gaza still short of food and care during a ceasefire?

The reports point to money, delays and a wrecked economy rather than one cause. The WFP says its cuts come from funding, not access: it received less than half as much for its Palestinian operations in 2026 as in previous years. Cash transfers to about half a million people were already reduced from July, so families have less to spend in local markets.

Other pressures are reported by UN bodies. Gaza's unemployment has passed 80 percent, up from 22 percent before the war. Medical supplies wait a median 74 days for Israeli clearance. Aid did rise 33 percent in July, with 55,000 pallets entering Gaza, but the UN said needs remain vast. Of $18 billion pledged for rebuilding, only $280 million has been paid.

What is the Yellow Line?

The Yellow Line is the line that marks the edge of Israel's area of military control inside Gaza. Families living near it are in hard-to-reach areas, and under the WFP cuts they will get a meal every other day instead of daily. Aid groups also worry about how the line is enforced. Our reading is that if it hardens, it could become a lasting border within Gaza, but the reports so far do not say that will happen.

Timeline: 1920s to today

MANDATE AND PARTITION

  1. Britain governs Palestine under a mandate, and large-scale Jewish immigration begins.

  2. Palestinian Arabs begin a revolt against British rule and the expansion of Jewish settlement, lasting to 1939.

  3. The UN General Assembly recommends partitioning Palestine into an Arab state, a Jewish state and an international Jerusalem.

  4. Israel declares independence and Arab forces move in; over 700,000 Palestinians flee or are expelled.

OCCUPATION AND UPRISINGS

  1. Israel captures Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the Six-Day War.

  2. The first intifada begins, and Hamas is established.

  3. Israeli and Palestinian leaders reach the Oslo Accords, creating the Palestinian Authority.

  4. Much of Gaza comes under Palestinian control.

  5. The second intifada begins after the failed Camp David summit.

HAMAS RULE AND BLOCKADE

  1. Israel withdraws from Gaza and dismantles its settlements there.

  2. Hamas wins a plurality in the Palestinian parliamentary election.

  3. Hamas takes control of the Gaza Strip, and Israel keeps a blockade in place.

  4. Israel launches a military operation in Gaza, one of several wars between Israel and Hamas.

THE WAR

  1. Hamas-led fighters attack Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.

  2. Israel launches a large-scale ground incursion into northern Gaza.

  3. A Qatari-mediated ceasefire takes effect, with hostages to be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners.

  4. Israel ends the ceasefire with a surprise attack that kills over 400 people.

  5. President Trump proposes a 20-point peace plan, which Israel accepts.

  6. A US-brokered ceasefire pauses the large-scale offensive in return for the remaining 48 hostages.

A YEAR OF TRUCE

  1. Gaza mourns an aid official killed in an Israeli strike as truce violations keep killing Palestinians nearly daily.

  2. The Board of Peace unveils a $2.45bn reconstruction blueprint, with only $280m of $18bn pledged paid.

  3. The WHO says no hospital in Gaza is fully functioning.

  4. More than 100 aid and rights groups say the ceasefire exists in name only.

  5. Norway's wealth fund divests $661m from five Israeli banks.

  6. Rome prosecutors place Defence Minister Israel Katz and 12 officials under investigation over the flotilla detainees.

  7. The WFP cuts Gaza food aid from 1.6 million people to 1.1 million.

What to watch next

  • Winter in Gaza. The WFP cuts land as winter approaches, and aid groups warn flooding in damaged buildings and tent camps could strain the remaining hospitals.
  • The WFP funding gap. The agency says it urgently needs $450 million, so whether donors respond will decide if the cuts hold.
  • Rebuilding money. The Board of Peace plan needs donor funds, and only $280 million of the $18 billion pledged has been paid.
  • The Italian case. Prosecutors could formally request a trial if they decide charges are warranted, and they have not said whether Israel answered their June request for judicial assistance.

Sources

How this article was made: Implica's editorial system wrote it from the news reports above, with the background drawn from Wikipedia: Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Hamas, Gaza Strip, Gaza war.

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