Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip are continuing to claim more victims despite the ceasefire agreement and calls from US President Donald Trump for Israel to halt its strikes. At the same time, Nikolay Mladenov, High Representative of the Peace Council, has warned that continued violations could cause the agreement to collapse and push the situation towards a “point of no return”.
Israeli air strikes have intensified in recent days, killing dozens of Palestinians and wounding others. According to the latest figures published by Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 1,320 Palestinians have been killed and 4,385 wounded since the ceasefire took effect last October.
Ibrahim al-Madhoun, director of the Palestinian Media Foundation, said the Israeli attacks could no longer be described as isolated violations, arguing that they amounted to a fragmented return to war.
He said retaliatory, electoral and strategic motives were driving the continuation of the attacks.
According to al-Madhoun, Netanyahu is aware that his right-wing electoral base supports military policies against Palestinians. He also argued that Israel is preparing for a return to war, displacement and assassinations, taking advantage of weak international pressure and the absence of a firm American or regional position capable of enforcing the agreement.
Walid Habbas, a researcher at the Palestinian Forum for Israeli Studies, said explaining the developments solely through Netanyahu’s electoral calculations was insufficient.
He pointed instead to a broader Israeli approach that views the Gaza Strip as a burden and sees the war as an opportunity to pursue objectives related to displacement and emptying the territory of its population.
Trump’s Gaza Plan Faces a Test
Paolo von Schirach, president of the Global Policy Institute, said the Trump administration was still working to create the conditions necessary to implement its plan, which is based on rebuilding Gaza while Palestinians remain in the territory.
The plan also includes arrangements for disarming Hamas, deploying an international force and implementing a gradual Israeli withdrawal.
Von Schirach said the continuation of Israeli military operations contradicts the foundations on which the plan was built.
However, he rejected the view that the plan had already collapsed, arguing that Washington still possesses diplomatic and political tools that could be used to pressure the Israeli government.
Habbas, meanwhile, stressed that keeping Palestinians in Gaza does not itself constitute a solution to the Palestinian issue.
He said Palestinians are demanding the right to self-determination and political rights, not merely improved economic and living conditions.
Netanyahu Accused of Gradually Draining the Agreement
Al-Madhoun said Netanyahu was seeking to avoid a direct confrontation with the US administration while gradually exhausting the ceasefire agreement and imposing new realities through continued targeting, the blockade and the expansion of Israeli control inside the Gaza Strip.
He warned that allowing this policy to continue could lead to the resumption of full-scale war.
He also said any mass displacement of Palestinians would have consequences extending far beyond Gaza, affecting Egyptian and Arab national security as well as regional stability.
Von Schirach said the ceasefire agreement remained capable of succeeding despite its diminishing prospects.
He pointed to continuing US political and diplomatic commitment to the plan, while stressing that its fate would ultimately depend on Washington’s ability to pressure Israel and on the willingness of the parties to implement the agreement’s provisions.
Mladenov Warns of a “Point of No Return”
In an interview with Al Jazeera’s Al-Muqabala programme broadcast on Sunday evening, Mladenov said deployment of the International Stabilisation Force in Gaza would begin within months.
He warned that failure of the US plan for the territory would lead to a “point of no return”.
According to Mladenov, the alternative to implementing the plan would be either the continuation of the war or the outbreak of a new conflict whose consequences would affect Gaza, Israel and the wider region for years.
At the end of last July, the Peace Council, chaired by the US president, announced a roadmap for the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
Hamas subsequently announced its acceptance of the plan and called for Israel to be compelled to implement it.
On 9 August, Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, rejected the Peace Council plan and said any Israeli withdrawal from Gaza must be preceded by the complete disarmament of Hamas.
