Three years on from Israel’s genocide of the people of Gaza – and a year after a ceasefire was declared – the territory remains a wasteland, with almost the entirety of its population of two million displaced, living in squalid tent refugee camps or half-demolished and unsafe houses. In September, funerals took place for hundreds of the over 100,000 people massacred during the genocide, as their bodies were retrieved from the ruins of homes destroyed by Israeli bombs. UN human rights chief Volker Türk said in September that ‘The discovery of extensive remains under the rubble in Gaza City resurfaces concerns of war crimes and other atrocity crimes’. The UN estimates that it would take over seven years to remove the 61 million tonnes of debris left by the warmongers. With over 8,000 still missing under the rubble, mass funerals have become mass protests with calls for justice resounding amid a sea of Palestinian flags.
There has been none of the ‘reconstruction’ promised when the UN embraced Trump’s imperialist ‘peace plan’ in October 2025. Israel continues to block the entry of building materials and medical equipment into Gaza. Of the 600 trucks a day needed to supply the needs of the Palestinian population, just 69 a day are permitted to enter.
Meanwhile, over half of Gaza remains occupied by Israeli forces with a ‘yellow line’ that encroaches on ever more Palestinian land, and daily Zionist air raids have killed more than 1,300 people since the ‘ceasefire’. There is no peace and no ceasefire, only a relentless and combined effort by the Zionists and their imperialist backers to eradicate any possibility of Palestinian self-determination.
‘Board of Peace’: an imperialist charade thwarted by Zionism
The so-called ‘Board of Peace’ (BoP) was set up a year ago by US President Donald Trump in the hope that an imperialist-imposed ‘peace plan’ could succeed in destroying the Palestinian resistance movement where genocide had failed. However, it has found itself paralysed in its pacification strategy by the intransigence of the Zionist state, as – particularly ahead of the October elections in Israel – political leaders openly push to recolonise Gaza. The National Committee for the Administration of Gaza – made up of Palestinian placemen expected to govern in the interests of imperialism – remains marooned in Cairo.
In July, Trump boasted of ‘a monumental step toward ending the fighting’ in Gaza, saying Hamas had agreed to ‘complete disarmament’. He insisted that this ‘major milestone’ would be accomplished as an ‘International Stabilisation Force, working alongside a newly established Palestinian police force…assume responsibility for security in Gaza.’ The Trump-appointed BoP commissioner, Nickolay Mladenov suggested that any Israeli withdrawal would ‘move in lockstep with [Palestinian] decommissioning’.
In reality, all the forces of the Palestinian liberation movement had made clear that any disarmament on their part would only be as part of the timeline agreed at the time of the ceasefire, that is: ‘gradual, sequential and time-bound… linked to an Israeli withdrawal, in phases, from the areas under its control in Gaza.’ Hamas negotiator Ghazi Hamad said that, ‘We will not take any action regarding disarmament prior to Israel’s withdrawal from the strip.’ In a statement, Palestinian Islamic Jihad – which has opposed any disarmament throughout – made it clear that: ‘What has been announced in the media regarding an agreement between the factions and the “israeli” enemy is inaccurate… We have reservations about it in its current circulating formula.’ A Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) communique made clear the context:
‘The Palestinian people are waging an existential battle against ongoing extermination, annexation, displacement, and the targeting of the right of return… All national forces must unite to escalate resistance and protect the land.’
The claims of Trump and Mladenov were quickly undermined by their Israeli allies. The Zionists have no intention of withdrawing under any circumstances. As he campaigns for re-election, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet that Israeli forces ‘will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed.’ Responding to news of the BoP agreement, the fascist national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said: ‘The assassinations in Gaza must continue, the encouragement of immigration [of Zionists into Gaza] must happen, Israel must win.’
Resistance is justified when Palestine is occupied
Trump’s appointees are turning the screw on the liberation movements to give up their weapons without any reciprocal demand on the Zionists. Mladenov has openly accused Hamas and other resistance groups of continuing to bear arms and operate resistance tunnels, while offering only the most muted criticism of Israel’s blatant murder of civilians and continued enforcement of a devastating blockade on the entry of aid convoys. BoP leader and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner reassured Netanyahu, saying that no Israeli withdrawal from Gaza would be discussed until Palestinian disarmament was ‘done’. To the voices of US imperialism, are added those of Britain, with Labour foreign secretary Ed Miliband stating in early September: ‘Hamas can play no role in the future governance of Gaza, it must decommission its weapons and must dismantle its terrorist infrastructure.’
However, although embattled and increasingly isolated, the forces of the liberation movement remain clear that without Zionist withdrawal from Gaza, they will not lay down their arms. Though Ghazi Hamad admitted Hamas and the resistance were ‘making concessions for the sake of our people’, he reiterated:
‘We will not implement any step if the occupation forces do not fulfil their obligations within the agreement. If Israel does not abide by the agreement, we will not abide by it.’
Victory to the Palestinian liberation struggle!
Isolate the Zionist state!
