Palestinians make their way in a devasted neighborhood, amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, in Gaza City.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

A major Gaza hospital said Friday (December 26, 2025) it had suspended several services because of critical fuel shortages in the devastated Palestinian territory, which faces a severe humanitarian crisis.

Ravaged by more than two years of war, the Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza’s Nuseirat district cares for around 60 in-patients and receives nearly 1,000 people seeking medical treatment each day.

“Most services have been temporarily stopped due to a shortage of the fuel needed for the generators,” said Ahmed Mehanna, a senior official involved in managing the hospital.

“Only essential departments remain operational: the emergency unit, maternity ward and paediatrics.”

To keep these services running, the hospital has been forced to rent a small generator, he added.

Under normal conditions, Al-Awda Hospital consumes between 1,000 and 1,200 litres of diesel per day. At present, however, it has only 800 litres available.

“We stress that this shutdown is temporary and linked to the availability of fuel,” Mr. Mehanna said, warning that a prolonged fuel shortage “would pose a direct threat to the hospital’s ability to deliver basic services”.

Khitam Ayada, 30, who has taken refuge in Nuseirat, said she had gone to the facility after days of kidney pain.

But “they told me they didn’t have electricity to perform an X-ray… and that they couldn’t treat me,” the displaced woman told AFP.

“They gave me a painkiller and told me that if my condition didn’t improve I should go” to another hospital, she said.

“We lack everything in our lives, even the most basic medical services,” she added.

Hospital official Mehanna urged local and international organisations to intervene swiftly to ensure a steady fuel supply.

Despite a fragile truce observed since October 10, the Gaza Strip remains engulfed in a severe humanitarian crisis.

While the ceasefire agreement stipulated the entry of 600 aid trucks per day, only 100 to 300 carrying humanitarian assistance can currently enter, according to the United Nations and non-governmental organisations.

The remaining convoys largely transport commercial goods that remain inaccessible to most of Gaza’s 2.2 million people.

Health hard hit

The vast majority of Gaza’s residents rely on aid from UN agencies and international NGOs for daily survival.

Gaza’s health sector has been among the hardest hit by the war.

During the fighting, the Israeli miliary repeatedly struck hospitals and medical centres across Gaza, accusing Hamas of operating command centres there, an allegation the group denied.

International medical charity Doctors Without Borders now manages roughly one-third of Gaza’s 2,300 hospital beds, while all five stabilisation centres for children suffering from severe malnutrition are supported by international NGOs.

The war in Gaza was sparked by an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 that resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

In Israel’s ensuing military campaign in Gaza, at least 70,942 people — also mostly civilians — have been killed, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

These figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.

Published – December 26, 2025 09:44 pm IST

Destroyed buildings and homes are seen in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on December 7, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AP

A dead person killed during an Israeli army strike is taken into the hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip. File
| Photo Credit: AP

File photo of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
| Photo Credit: AP

The fragile ceasefire in Gaza faced its first major test on Sunday (October 19, 2025) as an Israeli security official said the transfer of aid into the territory was halted “until further notice” after a Hamas ceasefire violation, and Israeli forces launched a wave of strikes.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement on the halt in aid, a little over a week since the start of the U.S.-proposed ceasefire aimed at ending two years of war.

Israel’s military earlier on Sunday (October 19, 2025) said its troops came under fire from Hamas militants in southern Gaza, and later said two soldiers were killed there.

Israel’s military said then it struck dozens of what it called Hamas targets. Health officials said at least 29 Palestinians were killed across Gaza, including children.

A senior Egyptian official involved in the ceasefire negotiations said “round-the-clock” contacts were underway to deescalate the situation. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to reporters.

There was no immediate U.S. comment.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directed the military to take “strong action” against any ceasefire violations but didn’t threaten to return to war.

Israel’s military said militants had fired at troops in areas of Rafah city that are Israeli-controlled according to agreed-upon ceasefire lines.

Hamas, which continued to accuse Israel of multiple ceasefire violations, said communication with its remaining units in Rafah had been cut off for months and “we are not responsible for any incidents occurring in those areas.”

Palestinians quickly feared the return of war.

“It will be a nightmare,” said Mahmoud Hashim, a father of five from Gaza City, who appealed to U.S. President Donald Trump and other mediators to prevent the ceasefire’s collapse.

An Israeli airstrike on a makeshift coffeehouse in Zawaida town in central Gaza killed at least six Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-run government.

Another strike killed at least two people near the Al-Ahly soccer club in the Nuseirat refugee camp, the ministry said. The strike hit a tent and wounded eight others, said Al-Awda Hospital, which received the casualties.

The hospital said it also received the bodies of four people killed in a strike on a school sheltering displaced families in Nuseirat. Six others were killed in a tent in Nuseirat, one killed at a charging point west of Nuseirat and four killed at a house in Bureij camp.

Another strike hit a tent in the Muwasi area of Khan Younis in the south, killing at least four people, including a woman and two children, according to Nasser Hospital.

A strike in Beit Lahiya in the north killed two men, according to Shifa hospital.

Israel identified the remains of two hostages released by Hamas overnight.

Netanyahu’s office said the bodies belonged to Ronen Engel, a father from Kibbutz Nir Oz, and Sonthaya Oakkharasri, a Thai agricultural worker from Kibbutz Be’eri.

Both were believed to have been killed during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which sparked the war. Engel’s wife, Karina, and two of his three children were kidnapped and released in a ceasefire in November 2023.

Hamas in the past week has handed over the remains of 12 hostages.

Hamas’ armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said that it found the body of a hostage and would return it on Sunday “if circumstances in the field” allowed. It warned that any escalation by Israel would hamper search efforts.

Israel on Saturday pressed Hamas to fulfill its ceasefire role of returning the remains of all 28 deceased hostages, saying the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt would stay closed “until further notice.”

Hamas says the war’s devastation and Israeli military control of certain areas of Gaza have slowed the handover. Israel believes Hamas has access to more bodies than it has returned.

Israel has released 150 bodies of Palestinians back to Gaza, including 15 on Sunday, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Israel has neither identified the bodies nor said how they died. The ministry posts photos of bodies on its website to help families attempting to locate loved ones. Some are decomposed and blackened. Some are missing limbs and teeth.

Only 25 bodies have been identified, the Health Ministry said.

Israel and Hamas earlier exchanged 20 living hostages for more than 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

A Hamas delegation led by chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya arrived in Cairo to follow up the implementation of the ceasefire deal with mediators and other Palestinian groups, Hamas said in a statement.

The next stages are expected to focus on disarming Hamas, Israeli withdrawal from additional areas it controls in Gaza, and future governance of the devastated territory.

Hamas spokesman Hazem Kassem said late Saturday that the second phase of negotiations “requires national consensus.” He said Hamas has begun discussions to “solidify its positions.”

The U.S. plan proposes the establishment of an internationally backed authority to run Gaza.

Kassem reiterated that Hamas won’t be part of the ruling authority in a postwar Gaza. He called for the prompt establishment of a body of Palestinian technocrats to run day-to-day affairs.

For now, “government agencies in Gaza continue to perform their duties, as the (power) vacuum is very dangerous,” he said.

The Rafah crossing was the only one not controlled by Israel before the war. It has been closed since May 2024, when Israel took control of the Gaza side.

A fully reopened crossing would make it easier for Palestinians to seek medical treatment, travel or visit family in Egypt, home to tens of thousands of Palestinians.

On Sunday, the Palestinian Authority’s Interior Ministry in Ramallah announced procedures for Palestinians wishing to leave or enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing. For those who want to leave, Palestinian Embassy staff from Cairo will be at the crossing to issue temporary travel documents for entry into Egypt. Palestinians who wish to enter Gaza will need to apply at the embassy.

The Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 68,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. The ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. Israel has disputed them without providing its own toll.

Thousands more people are missing, according to the Red Cross.

Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people in the attack that sparked the war.

The Palestinian embassy in Egypt says the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt will reopen on Monday (October 20, 2025) for people returning to Gaza.

The embassy announced the development in a statement on Saturday (October 18).

“The number of people registering to return to Gaza is very big,” Naji al-Naji, cultural counsellor at the embassy, told The Associated Press without saying how many.

There was no immediate comment from Israel.

The crossing is Gaza’s only gateway to the outside world that wasn’t controlled by Israel before the war. It has been closed since May 2024, when Israel took control of the Gaza side.

Gaza ‘s ruins were being scoured for the dead on Saturday (October 18), over a week into a ceasefire as newly recovered bodies brought the Palestinian toll above 68,000.

Israel said the remains of a tenth hostage that Hamas handed over the day before were identified as Eliyahu Margalit.

The handover of hostages’ remains, called for under the ceasefire agreement, is among key points — along with aid deliveries into Gaza and the devastated territory’s future — in a process backed by much of the international community to help end two years of war.

Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office said Margalit’s family had been notified. The 76-year-old was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war. His remains were found after bulldozers ploughed up pits in the southern city of Khan Younis.

The effort to find the remaining 18 hostages followed a warning from U.S. President Donald Trump that he would green-light Israel to resume the war if Hamas doesn’t live up to its end of the deal and return them all.

In a statement, the hostage forum that supports the families of those abducted said they won’t rest until the remaining hostages come home. The forum said it will continue holding weekly rallies until all are returned.

Hamas has said it is committed to the terms of the ceasefire deal but that the retrieval of remains is hampered by the scope of the devastation and the presence of unexploded ordnance. The group has told mediators that some remains are in areas controlled by Israeli troops.

As part of the ceasefire agreement, Israel on Saturday (October 18) returned the bodies of a further 15 Palestinians to Gaza. Gaza’s Health Ministry said the International Committee of the Red Cross handed over the bodies to Nasser Hospital, bringing the total number Israel had returned to 135.

In announcing the updated Palestinian death toll, the ministry said the number has climbed since the ceasefire began, with the majority of the newly counted bodies being found during recovery efforts.

Thousands of people are still missing, according to the Red Cross.

Hamas again accused Israel of continuing attacks and violating the ceasefire, asserting that 38 Palestinians had been killed since it began. There was no immediate response from Israel, which still maintains control of about half of Gaza.

On Friday (October 17), Gaza’s Civil Defence, first responders operating under the Hamas-run Interior Ministry, said nine people were killed, including women and children, when their vehicle was hit by Israeli fire in Gaza City. The Civil Defence said the car crossed into an Israeli-controlled area in eastern Gaza.

The Civil Defence said Israel could have warned the people in a manner that wasn’t lethal. The group recovered the bodies on Saturday (October 18) with coordination from the United Nations, it said.

Israel’s army said it saw a “suspicious vehicle” crossing the so-called yellow line and approaching troops. It said it fired warning shots, but the vehicle continued to approach in a manner that posed an “imminent threat.” The army said it acted in accordance with the ceasefire.

Hamas has urged mediators to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza for its 2 million people, expedite the opening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt and start reconstruction of the battered territory.

The flow of aid remains constrained because of continued closures of crossings and Israeli restrictions on aid groups.

U.N. data on Friday (October 17) showed 339 trucks have been offloaded for distribution in Gaza since the ceasefire began. Under the agreement, some 600 aid trucks per day should be allowed to enter.

COGAT, the Israeli defence body overseeing aid in Gaza, reported 950 trucks — including commercial trucks and bilateral deliveries — crossing on Thursday (October 16) and 716 on Wednesday (October 15), the U.N. said.

Throughout the war, Israel restricted aid to Gaza, sometimes halting it altogether.

International food security experts declared famine in Gaza City, and the U.N. says it has verified more than 400 people who died of malnutrition-related causes, including over 100 children.

Israel has long said it let in enough food and accused Hamas of stealing much of it. The U.N. and other aid agencies deny the claim.

Gaza’s Health Ministry is part of the Hamas-run government. It maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. Israel has disputed them without providing its own toll.

Published – October 18, 2025 09:00 pm IST

Palestinians watch members of the Hamas militant group searching for bodies of the hostages in an area in Hamad City, Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip on October 18, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AP