News of a ceasefire can evoke hopeful emotions. But given Israel continued to strike Palestinian civilians after the deal was announced, we must question what a ceasefire means functionally for Palestine.
Even if Israel were to stop all attacks, Palestinians are still suffering from a grievous humanitarian crisis. Gaza has been obliterated. Infrastructure is gone. Hospitals are gone. Schools are gone. Homes are gone. Agriculture is gone. Those who managed to survive the incessant bombs, snipers, chemical attacks, engineered famine, etc. are left with nothing. And Israel arrests and mistreats anyone attempting to provide Palestinians with life-saving food and medicine.
Moreover, we must remember that a ceasefire does not just automatically give Palestinians rights. Israel has built an intricate system of apartheid over several decades.
Many Palestinians do not have citizenship under the Israeli regime. In 1952, Israel put specific conditions on citizenship for Palestinians, restricting the number of Palestinians who could gain equal rights. Palestinians cannot gain citizenship through marriage to an Israeli, meaning that if a Palestinian weds an Israeli, they must live apart in segregated zones or leave the country altogether. Israeli law also precludes any inter-faith marriages. (Their laws also prohibit same-sex marriages performed in Israel.)
Israel imposed a military government on Palestinians, restricting their movements from one zone to another. Palestinians have different license plates than Israelis to designate which roads they’re allowed to take and where they’re allowed to go. Palestinians are subject to harsher criminal laws than Israelis, and they are tried in military courts rather than the civilian courts where Israelis are processed. The military courts have a nearly 100% conviction rate of Palestinians.
Displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem continues. Israel demolishes Palestinian homes en mass, creating large groups of displaced people. If any of these people had the resources to try and build another home, they would first need to obtain a permit from the Israeli government, which rejects an overwhelming number of Palestinian permits. The government does, however, grant the majority of settler permits. If Palestinians build without permits, Israel demolishes them for being built illegally. This keeps Palestinians in a constant state of movement, never being able to re-establish their lives and communities in their own land.
These are just a few brief descriptions of Israeli apartheid. Please read Amnesty International’s 2022 report Crime of Apartheid and Human Rights Watch’s 2021 report A Threshold Crossed for in-depth information.
What happens to the network of oppressive laws, military police, and settler violence keeping the apartheid machine running after a ceasefire? The media often depicts Israel’s war on Palestine as though it started two years ago out of nowhere. We cannot ignore the history that led up to the war, nor can we treat the ceasefire as the end of Palestinian struggle. We must maintain pressure on Israelis and speak out about their systems of segregation. Palestine must be liberated thoroughly, or humanity has failed.
Sources:
“Israel confirms signing phase one of Gaza ceasefire deal with Hamas” by Stephen Quillen - https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/9/israel-confirms-signing-phase-one-of-gaza-ceasefire-deal-with-hamas
“Israel bombards Gaza City and Khan Younis after ceasefire deal announced” by Middle East Eye - https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israeli-attacks-persists-gaza-after-ceasefire-agreement-announced
"Satellite images show extent of destruction in Gaza after 2 years of war” -
"How a year of war has devastated Gaza’s civilian infrastructure” by Doctors Without Borders -
"Health system at breaking point as hostilities further intensify in Gaza, WHO warns” by World Health Organization - https://www.who.int/news/item/22-05-2025-health-system-at-breaking-point-as-hostilities-further-intensify--who-warns
"EDUCATION UNDER ATTACK IN GAZA, WITH NEARLY 90% OF SCHOOL BUILDINGS DAMAGED OR DESTROYED” by Save the Children - https://www.savethechildren.net/blog/education-under-attack-gaza-nearly-90-school-buildings-damaged-or-destroyed
“Destruction of homes leaves Palestinians unable to safely return to Rafah” by Doctors Without Borders - https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/destruction-homes-leaves-palestinians-unable-safely-return-rafah
“Just 1.5 per cent of Gaza’s agricultural land remains accessible and undamaged” by UN News https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/08/1165587
“Last boat in Gaza humanitarian flotilla intercepted by Israel” by Alastair McCready - https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/3/israel-dismantles-gaza-humanitarian-flotilla-but-one-boat-sails
"More Gaza flotilla activists allege mistreatment in Israeli detention” by Tim Hume - https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/5/more-gaza-flotilla-activists-allege-mistreatment-in-israeli-detention
“Palestinian Citizenship in Israel” by Mazen Masri, Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question - https://www.palquest.org/en/highlight/10585/palestinian-citizenship-israel
“Israel's Knesset passes law barring Palestinian spouses” - Al Jazeera - https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/11/israels-knesset-passes-law-barring-palestinian-spouses
The Policing of Religious Marriage Prohibitions in Israel: Religion, State, and Information Technology, 31 J. Marshall J. Info. Tech. & Privacy L. 23 (2014) by Akiva Miller - https://repository.law.uic.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1753&context=jitpl
“Getting around the West Bank is never easy, but it’s a lot harder if you are Palestinian. That’s no accident.” by Ben Hubbard, Sergey Ponomarev, Leanne Abraham and Marco Hernandez - https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/10/13/world/middleeast/west-bank-roads.html
“A Threshold Crossed” by Human Rights Watch - https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27/threshold-crossed/israeli-authorities-and-crimes-apartheid-and-persecution
“677 administrative demolitions in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since the beginning of 2025” by the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories - https://www.btselem.org/video/20250702_677_administrative_demolitions_in_the_west_bank_and_east_jerusalem_since_the_beginning_of_2025#full
"The Civil Administration acknowledges extreme discrimination in building permits and law enforcement between Palestinians and settlers” by Peace Now - https://peacenow.org.il/en/the-civil-administration-acknowledges-extreme-discrimination-in-building-permits-and-law-enforcement-between-palestinians-and-settlers
"Crime of Apartheid” by Amnesty International - https://www.amnestyusa.org/campaigns/end-apartheid/
“Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians” by Amnesty International - https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2022/02/israels-system-of-apartheid/