A Palestinian researcher from Gaza, specializing in English literature and translation. Despite war, displacement, and the destruction of her university, she continues her academic journey under siege, refusing to let her voice or her dreams be silenced. X: @GhadaRozzi
Political leaders and commentators across Western media routinely declare that military operations in Gaza have "scaled back," that conflict intensity has dropped or that the supposed "Board of Peace" meant to end the war is succeeding. Those of us enduring daily life on the ground are experiencing a different reality. Indeed, the so-called "ceasefire" in Gaza is merely a ruse that allows Israel to continue killing our people as it works to occupy our land indefinitely.
On October 12, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump declared that "the war is over" as he flew to Israel following the announcement of a supposed ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The following day, he repeated the claim at the Gaza peace summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, declaring that "the war in Gaza is over" and that a new era of peace had begun.
The so-called "ceasefire" in Gaza is merely a ruse that allows Israel to continue killing our people as it works to occupy our land indefinitely.
- Ghada al-Rozzi
For those of us living in Gaza, that declaration did not reflect the reality on the ground, despite jubilation that the war could end. The violence never truly ended. It continued in a different form, shifting into the background while continuing to transform life under a so-called ceasefire.
The narrative of a concluded or de-escalated war is an orchestrated deception designed to pacify international outrage and insulate military and political leaders from accountability, especially those in Israel. Indeed, Israel's genocide in Gaza has not ceased, with the ceasefire merely normalizing Israeli operations into a grinding, daily routine of destruction palatable to the West and at a low enough level to avoid overt media scrutiny.
In Gaza, each day is welcomed by the relentless hum of Israeli drones, typically preceding another devastating airstrike. Artillery fire and shootings take Palestinian lives, including those of children, with ease. Targeted assassinations continue without pause. Homes, temporary shelters and makeshift tents housing displaced families are regularly incinerated, worsening the displacement crisis impacting roughly 2 million Palestinians in the Strip as senior Israeli officials like National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir advocate for 30 to 40 killings a day in our communities.
Those living this nightmare understand that the violence has never slowed down. It has continued in a different form.
The stark disparity between diplomatic assurances of Israel and the United States and the lived reality on the ground was tragically laid bare just days ago. In central Gaza's Deir al-Balah, thousands gathered for a mass funeral of 112 people, including 40 children, who Israel killed in the early days of its genocide in the Strip. Most hailed from the Bedouin Al-Hassaynas clan of Sabra, a neighborhood in Gaza City that Israel effectively carpet bombed on Nov. 22, 2023, not two months into Israel's military campaign in Gaza.
The narrative of a concluded or de-escalated war is an orchestrated deception designed to pacify international outrage and insulate military and political leaders from accountability, especially those in Israel.
- Ghada al-Rozzi
At least 308 members of the extended Al-Hassayna clan died that day. They have been slowly recovered from the rubble of pulverized residential buildings years after their deaths, efforts that Israel effectively blocked through its military operations and ongoing and creeping annexation of our land. It took a recovery team of 40 workers over 17 days to identify the remains of just one-third of the Al-Hassaynas murdered by Israel.
Yet, as devastating as it was to mourn 112 souls that day, the deeper agony lies in the remaining unburied. At least 8,000 people remain buried under the rubble across Gaza, a likely undercount of those martyred here. Over 100 people from the same neighborhood in Gaza City remain unaccounted for, their bodies buried beneath mountain-high mounds of crushed concrete.
It is as if Israel vaporized them into thin air, leaving families without the closure of even a funeral or grave. In some instances, Israeli demolition efforts that have flattened cities like Rafah in southern Gaza leave many wondering if they will ever recover their loved ones, or if Israel will wash away its crimes as it works to eradicate any semblance of Palestinian existence.
Indeed, any claim of ending the war obscures the fact that Gaza has been systematically converted into a vast, enclosed prison for its surviving inhabitants and the dead alike. Freedom of movement is nonexistent. Travel abroad is nearly impossible. Israel continues to inhibit the inflow of basic humanitarian necessities — clean water, food, fuel and vital medical supplies — in what remains one of its primary weapons of control in its long-running, illegal blockade of Gaza. Reconstruction is actively blocked, schools and universities lie in ashes and any attempt at rebuilding basic human dignity is intentionally thwarted.
What makes this horrific reality even more frustrating is the painful gap between global public sentiment and official policy. Across every continent, millions of people of conscience, including students, human rights advocates, labor leaders and everyday citizens, have taken to the streets in unprecedented numbers in support of our people and against Israel's genocide. The world grieves for Gaza, recognizing that our struggle is a fundamentally human one.
Yet, despite this overwhelming global empathy, political leadership in major Western capitals continues to parrot the narrative provided to them, ignoring the blood running down our streets. Most of these Western states that do speak do so with little expectation or interest in seriously changing this reality, merely offering toothless rhetoric that allows them to pat themselves on the back and move on.
To claim that the war is over while missiles continue to fall, while 112 bodies are buried in a single afternoon and while thousands remain missing under shattered homes is a betrayal of truth and morality. It represents a willingness to let Palestinians suffer and die in silence as the world moves on. Meanwhile, we remain in this ghastly existence of a life.
The views and positions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of DAWN.
