Israel and Hamas agreed on the first draft of a ceasefire deal on Wednesday (January 15, 2025), signalling the biggest step yet toward an end to the conflict. Among other things, the 60-day ceasefire process would involve freeing hostages on both sides, increasing aid, reconstruction of destroyed Palestine, and a cessation of attacks.
These measures have been overdue, with people demanding Israel bring back hostages held by Hamas and international organisations warning about the extreme humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
To put the impact of a successful ceasefire in context, the graphics below show the scale of the humanitarian crisis, the hostage situation and the destruction of Palestine through the war.
Humanitarian aid
The Gaza strip’s access to food and other necessary supplies deteriorated sharply after October 7, when Hamas launched its attack. The number of humanitarian aid trucks entering the area plummeted from around 500 to 600 trucks a day to a fraction of that.
Lack of adequate food and other supplies led to a hunger crisis in the region. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) reports show that at least 85% of the population in the Gaza strip are categorised as facing ‘crisis’, ‘emergency’ and ‘catastrophe’ levels of food insecurity ever since December 2023.
The ceasefire’s provision to let at least 600 aid trucks reach Gaza every day will provide a crucial boost to supplies.
Hostages
As of January 15, around 98 hostages remain captive. Even fewer are confirmed to be alive. This is of the 251 people taken hostage by Hamas on October 7.
On October 7, Hamas took people including children younger than a year, and elderly over the age of 80 as hostages. Since then, over a year has passed, with families of the hostages and thousands others taking to the streets to demand their loved ones be brought back.
When Israeli forces found six hostages dead in September last year, it triggered massive nationwide protests from Israeli citizens calling for the Netanyahu government to intensify rescue efforts. Israel’s military spokesperson revealed that the hostages were murdered before the Israeli forces could reach them. The hostages’ deaths were blamed on his failure to reach a ceasefire deal with the Hamas and end the war.
Destruction in Gaza
A preliminary analysis by the United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT), whose parent organisation is the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), reveals that 69% of the structures are damaged in the Gaza Strip, as of December 1, 2024. UNOSAT identified that 60,368 structures are destroyed; 20,050 are severely damaged; 56,292 moderately damaged structures, and 34,102 possibly damaged structures. In all these structures, a total 2,45,123 housing units are estimated to be damaged.
Since September 6, 2024, when the previous analysis of UNOSAT was carried out, the governorates of North Gaza and Rafah have experienced the highest rise in damage. Around 3,138 new structures were damaged in North Gaza and around 3,054 in Rafah. Within North Gaza, Jabalya municipality had the highest number of newly damaged structures, totalling 1,339.
The areas or neighbourhoods of the Gaza Strip shown in maps below detail the status of the structures in those areas. Each dark red spot corresponds to a structure that is completely destroyed and a bright red structure corresponds to a structure that is severely damaged.
Source: UNOSAT Gaza Strip Comprehensive Damage Assessment; Maps: Gautam Doshi
However, Israel has accused Hamas of backtracking on some provisions of the ceasefire deal. Netanyahu postponed the Cabinet meeting to approve the deal from Thursday (January 16, 2025) to Friday as Israeli airstrikes in the region killed 75 people.
Published – January 17, 2025 10:09 am IST
