Phase two of the US-backed Gaza ceasefire plan, announced by President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff on January 14, 2026, has quickly unraveled amid relentless Israeli aggression. Despite its stated goals of demilitarization and reconstruction following the fragile October 2025 truce, Israeli strikes since then have killed at least 30-40 Palestinians in Gaza, per Gaza health ministry updates cited by ReliefWeb and QNA. Specific incidents include at least eight killed in Deir al-Balah's al-Jarou home and seven in Rafah airstrikes on January 15, with West Bank raids adding further fatalities amid mass arrests.
Hamas reports Israel violated the truce 1,193 times by January 9 alone, launching attacks on 82 of 97 days—a pattern intensified into phase two. This brings post-ceasefire deaths (since October 2025) to over 450 Palestinians, alongside 1,246 injuries Gaza-wide.
Aid remains severely restricted, trapping vital supplies and deepening the humanitarian catastrophe as phase one hostage issues persist unresolved. Palestinian voices decry this as a charade, with Israel's yellow-line incursions and bombardment exposing the "ceasefire" as mere cover for continued occupation and ethnic cleansing under Trump's watch.
