Gaza marks 6 months of ceasefire with no progress in humanitarian conditions

GAZA CITY

Palestinians walk along tents at a makeshift camp for displaced people in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

The ceasefire in the Gaza Strip on April 10 marked its sixth month, a milestone largely lost in the confusion over the new and even more fragile ceasefire in the Iran war.

The ravaged Palestinian territory of 2 million people has seen the most intense fighting stop between Israeli forces and Hamas-led militants.

But most of the ceasefire work remains to be done, from disarming Hamas and ending its two-decade rule to deploying an international stabilization force and beginning vast reconstruction.

Gaza residents are in limbo, with limited aid entering through a single, Israeli-controlled border post.

A U.S. official said Hamas has not been given a definite deadline to respond to the proposal on the disarmament but added that “patience is not unlimited.” The official was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The lack of a deadline can weaken pressure to act. Meanwhile, diplomacy is busy putting out different flames.

Board of Peace director Nickolay Mladenov told the U.N. Security Council last month that the world should not lose sight of Gaza as a new war flared. The choice in Gaza is between “a renewed war, or a new beginning; the status quo, or a better future,” he added. “There is no third option.”

‘It’s as if there’s no ceasefire at all’

The U.S. 20-point ceasefire plan for Gaza is largely failing on the humanitarian front, five international aid groups said in a scorecard released on April 9. They said conditions have deteriorated further in Gaza since the Iran war began.

“During the first two weeks of March 2026, trucks entering Gaza declined by 80 percent and the price of basic goods increased dramatically,” they said. Medical evacuations have stalled.

Palestinians expressed fading hopes for any immediate improvement in their lives.

"There is pollution and disease. It’s as if there’s no ceasefire at all,” said Maysa Abu Jedian, a displaced woman from Beit Lahiya.