The humanitarian crisis on the Gaza Strip has been ongoing since October 2023, when Israel began a relentless bombardment in retaliation to the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel on October 7 of the same year.

Shocking reports claim that Israel have or injured over 10% of Gaza’s population over the subsequent 24 months. An estimated 67,000 Palestinians have been in the past two years, with at least 20,000 children among the dead.

Which is why the world was given cause to rejoice earlier this week when it was announced that Israel and Hamas had agreed to a ceasefire. Yesterday, all surviving hostages from both sides were released – the first giant step towards securing longterm peace.

As per the BBC, the ‘initial withdrawal’ as part of the agreement will leave Gaza around 55 percent occupied by Israeli forces. The second phase would then reduce that number to around 40 percent.
A final withdrawal phase will see the introduction of a ‘security buffer zone’, leaving roughly 15 percent of Gaza occupied by the Israeli military.