Daijiworld Media Network - Jerusalem
Jerusalem, Oct 30: The fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, brokered by the United States with support from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, appeared to teeter on the brink of collapse on Wednesday after deadly Israeli airstrikes reportedly killed more than 100 people in Gaza.
US President Donald Trump insisted that “nothing is going to jeopardise” the truce his administration helped secure, yet the escalating violence has raised serious doubts about the durability of the agreement and the future of the broader 20-point Trump peace plan for Gaza.
Israel said its air force struck “multiple terror targets and terrorists” after accusing Hamas fighters of violating the ceasefire by opening fire on Israeli soldiers in Rafah, killing one. However, Gaza’s Hamas-run Civil Defence agency claimed that most of those killed were women and children, with residential areas, schools, and tents for displaced families among the sites hit.
Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, described the civilian deaths as “appalling” and called on Israel to uphold international humanitarian law.
The truce, seen as a key pillar of President Trump’s Middle East peace efforts, now faces its toughest test yet. While Washington publicly affirms Israel’s right to respond to attacks, US officials have privately urged restraint to prevent a total collapse of the deal.
After a similar flare-up on October 19, when Israel’s retaliatory strikes killed more than 40 Palestinians following the deaths of two Israeli soldiers, it was reported that US pressure forced Israel to reopen border crossings for humanitarian aid.
The ceasefire has so far facilitated the exchange of 20 Israeli hostages held by Hamas for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, but far-right elements within Israel’s cabinet are reportedly pushing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resume a full-scale offensive.
For now, the White House is said to be restraining such moves, though allowing Israel limited military responses to what it deems Hamas violations.
“Hamas accepted the ceasefire because it seemed the least bad choice open to them, especially as President Trump is personally invested and could act as an effective brake on Netanyahu,” said Tahani Mustafa, an international relations lecturer at King’s College London.
Still, analysts warn that continued bloodshed could reduce the truce to little more than a paper promise.
Despite the violence, Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani told a US audience that both Israel and Hamas “acknowledge that the ceasefire should hold and they should stick to the agreement.”
Dr Robert Pinfold, a lecturer in Defence Studies at King’s College London, believes the ceasefire may survive — but only just. “Israel and Hamas both perceive that the costs of abrogating the ceasefire themselves are too high,” he said.
However, he cautioned that while the ceasefire may hold, hopes for Gaza’s reconstruction and long-term peace remain bleak.
“What has been set back is any meaningful transition to somewhere better, such as Gaza’s rehabilitation and rebuilding. Whilst the ceasefire may survive, it will remain on tenterhooks,” Dr Pinfold said.
For now, the so-called peace in Gaza exists largely in name — its endurance dependent on diplomacy, restraint, and the will of those who brokered it.