One year after a brokered truce agreement took effect, families in the war-torn Gaza Strip are still grappling with persistent displacement and increasingly dire living conditions.
On Oct 10, 2025, Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of a ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza, mediated by international stakeholders.
The "Yellow Line" marks the Israeli military's redeployment boundary under the first phase of the ceasefire agreement. The so-called Yellow Line divides Gaza into two zones: an eastern area under Israeli military oversight and a western area where Palestinians can move with fewer restrictions.
Meanwhile, the Israeli side has unilaterally and continuously pushed the line further into the Gaza Strip, expanding its security area in violation of the ceasefire.
With the Israeli military currently in de facto control of most of Gaza and Palestinians strictly barred from approaching the "Yellow Line", many Gazans are not only unable to return home but are also being pushed to the brink of survival, cut off from their livelihoods and short of basic supplies.
Some Gazans have returned to the rubble of their former homes, but many remain confined to makeshift shelters and tents, struggling to secure income sources. For many in Gaza, the conflict is far from over.
Their homes lie within the Israeli armed forces' operational area demarcated by the "Yellow Line", leaving them unable to return home -- or even to get near the ruins of their houses. A full year on, these families remain trapped in tents. What were once seen as temporary shelters have now become their long-term homes.
A year ago, Shams returned with her parents from southern Gaza to the north, full of hope. She had naively believed that the ceasefire agreement would allow her to go back to school and see her friends. However, her home lay within the unreachable "Yellow Line," and a year of waiting ultimately only left her dreams torn to pieces.
"A year ago, we returned to Gaza City from the southern Gaza Strip. Back then, I thought we would live a good life -- that I could go back to school and see my friends, that my dad could work again, that our family could move back into our own house, and that we could play like we did before the war. But none of it ever came true," Shams said.
Mohammed was once a construction worker. When the ceasefire agreement was announced a year ago, he thought construction materials would soon be allowed in and that he could return to his old trade and make a living by rebuilding Gaza.
However, the restricted "Yellow Line" area by the Israeli military kept expanding, and the restoration of normal life remained nowhere in sight.
"I work in construction. When the ceasefire was announced, we thought that construction materials would be able to enter Gaza within a month, and we could start rebuilding -- building houses for ourselves and for everyone. But the reality is that a full year has passed since the ceasefire, and nothing has moved forward at all," Mohammed said.
Water is scarce in Gaza, and securing it is a daily priority for families. With no income, securing a bucket of clean drinking water and three meals a day has become the heaviest daily burden for Mohammed's family.
"Getting water is the most disastrous part. When the water truck comes, we have to line up for more than three hours just to fill two buckets," he said.
For Mohammed's family, the so-called ceasefire has not only failed to bring them a new home and a new life, but has even stripped them of their very right to survive -- all because of exorbitant prices.
"Right now, only very basic goods are entering the Gaza Strip. Some food and drinks can't solve the fundamental problems. They have nothing to do with reconstruction. Even if we wanted to find some iron sheets to put up a simple shelter as a home, in reality we can't even build a toilet," he said.
According to the latest figures from the United Nations and health authorities in the Gaza Strip, the conflict has claimed the lives of more than 74,000 Gazans, leaving over 175,000 injured, since it started in 2023.
Displaced Palestinians still face crippled economy, worsening conditions
