One year into Gaza ceasefire, more than 1,400 Palestinians killed in attacks

The Gaza ceasefire reached after President Donald Trump pressed Israel to accept a deal involving the release of remaining Israeli hostages by Hamas has lasted a year. It took effect on Oct. 10, 2025.

The promised international peacekeeping force has not arrived, and reconstruction has not begun. Israel’s military has expanded its control to about 70% of Gaza, leaving more than 2 million Palestinians concentrated near the coast.

Attacks continued during the truce

Israel continued targeting Hamas during the ceasefire. Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 1,400 Palestinians were killed over the year, including nearly 500 women and children. Bombardments did not stop, although they slowed.

The reduced attacks gave people in Gaza some opportunity to recover from famine in the north, which U.N.-backed experts had declared the previous year. More food entered the territory, reversing starvation across Gaza.

A year recorded in photographs

NPR Gaza reporter Anas Baba documented grief and brief periods of respite across the 12 months. His images show residents returning to the ruins of Gaza City after Israeli forces withdrew, Palestinian prisoners being exchanged for Israeli hostages, wounded children, airstrikes and bodies recovered from morgues.

The photographs also show humanitarian aid, flooded streets, cold tents, fresh produce returning, Christmas celebrations at Holy Family Church and activities intended to help children cope with trauma. The U.N. said in December that roughly 1.5 million people had only tents for shelter after the war destroyed nearly all buildings.

Civilian life amid the destruction

Throughout the year, some public activities resumed: women artists painted on a Gaza City beach as therapy, the city held its first chess tournament since the war began, and children joined Eid al-Fitr celebrations. Humanitarian groups still needed Israeli permission to enter some areas.

The photographs also documented bodies being recovered long after attacks. In February 2026, rescuers found the remains of Shawqi Abu Naser in Beit Lahia, more than a year after an airstrike killed 132 members of his family.

On Oct. 10, Anas Baba won the 2026 Radio Prize at the Bayeux Calvados-Normandy Awards for “Recovering the Dead in Gaza.”