Despite the So-called “Ceasefire”, Israel’s Genocide in Palestine Continues

Ceasefires are supposed to mean an end to violence. Not “less news coverage”. Not “fewer videos on your feed”. Not “a slightly slower rate of death that we learn to tolerate”.

Almost two months ago, the world was told a deal had been reached: the bombs would stop dropping, the guns would fall silent, hostages would come home, Gaza would breathe again. But a ceasefire that still permits daily lethal force isn’t peace - it is a managed continuation of atrocity. Palestinians are continuing to be killed by airstrikes, artillery, and live fire - usually explained away by Israel as “enforcement”, “buffer zones”, or “responses to violations”.  This is what moral camouflage looks like: violence under a different label.

Israel continues to kill and injure Palestinian civilians not only in Gaza, but also in the West Bank where large-scale raids, curfews, movement restrictions and lethal force also continue. This is another reminder that Palestine isn’t “one front”, and that Israel’s violence shifts location as the headlines shift attention. UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese tells it like it is: “Israel’s genocide continues: because it is lucrative for many.”

Let’s be clear: genocide is an expert legal term. Lawyers and courts - not politicians or bloggers - define it and make the findings. That said, the world can recognise what’s happening in plain sight: Israel’s killing; destruction of homes, hospitals, and the systems that keep Palestinian people alive; and the deliberate infliction of conditions of life that a population cannot survive.

Amnesty International says Israel’s genocide in Gaza “continues unabated despite ceasefire”, describing the ongoing infliction of conditions of life calculated to bring about destruction. Innocent civilians are paying the price, over and over, while the world either ignores what’s happening or argues about vocabulary.

Human Rights Watch has documented shootings of Palestinians trying to obtain food at aid distribution sites, describing these as serious violations of international law and war crimes.  And UN agencies continue to publish situation reports that read like a catalogue of preventable suffering under the world’s watch. A ceasefire that doesn’t end starvation isn’t a ceasefire. It is a pause in one method of killing while others continue.

“Yeah But what about…?”

Yes: Hamas committed atrocities on 7 October 2023. Hostages should never have been taken. Their release should have been unconditional.

And still: none of that grants any state a licence to destroy a trapped civilian population, or to reduce humanitarian survival to a bargaining chip, or to treat entire neighbourhoods as expendable.

There’s a second “yeah but … ” that needs saying out loud too.

Criticising Israel’s government and military actions isn’t antisemitism. Antisemitism is hate directed at Jewish people because they’re Jewish - and it’s real, repugnant, and must be confronted. Protecting Jewish communities from hatred and protecting Palestinians from mass atrocity are not competing moral projects. They are the same project: insisting human rights belong to everyone, that every life is worth the same.

What a real ceasefire would look like

A real ceasefire wouldn’t be measured by press releases. It would be measured by absence: no airstrikes, no sniper fire, no “safe zones” that aren’t safe, no children dying near schools.

A real ceasefire would mean full, sustained humanitarian access at scale, delivered through credible humanitarian channels - and not undermined, politicised, or turned into a danger zone for people desperate for food.

A real ceasefire would mean accountability: for Hamas’s crimes, and for crimes committed by Israeli and individual leaders who ordered, enabled, or excused them.

Australia’s choice: spectator or citizen?

If you’re reading this from Australia, you’re not powerless. You are simply being trained to feel powerless.

Boycott Israeli products in the supermarket and elsewhere. Write to your MP and Senators. Demand an end to impunity, an end to the siege conditions, an end to our unethical trade relations with Israel, and meaningful consequences for its violations of international law. Support humanitarian organisations doing the lifesaving work.

Refuse the lie that this is “too complex” to judge: yes, it is complicated - but the basic moral arithmetic is simple. A ceasefire that still kills people isn’t peace. It’s a world learning to live with atrocity. I’m not willing to accept that.