By Dr Marwan Asmar
Despite the new ‘structure instutionalization’ put forward by US President Donald Trump, Israel continues to bomb different places of Gaza and kill its civilians with no mercy.
While Trump has been busy this week outlining his Council of Peace with an executive board and the formation of a technical committee to rule Gaza, neither the Israeli army nor it’s government felt obliged to stop bombing Gaza and kill its people.
The Israelis which still control 53 percent of Gaza have continued to violate the ceasefire that was signed on 10 October 2025 to end the war and establish a framework for the rebuilding of the destroyed enclave.
Israeli gunfire is unstoppable despite the “peace praises” outlined by Trump and his White House team. Israel has violated the ceasefire over 1200 times yet the Americans say it’s important to stick to the 10th agreement but the only people who seemed to be doing that are the Palestinian resistance groups. On the whole, they are sticking to the deal despite the bombings and killings that are definitely not isolated incidents. If they retaliate the Israelis increase the tempo of escalation and kill more.
Last Thursday Israeli guns killed 11 people including two 13-year-old boys and three journalists in a vehicle. The following day Israeli tanks continued firing on different parts of Gaza City especially the eastern areas which are controlled by the Israeli army. As well, different areas in north Gaza and in Rafah in the south are bombed.
The life of the Palestinian continues to be miserable, in a starved state and deadly, living in tattered tents unable to keep out the cold leaving the vulnerable and babies and children to die.
Israel has killed at least 477 civilians since the ceasefire was clenched with more than 1300 injured and there doesn’t seem to be any let up. Meanwhile the Trump administration keeps saying that everything is moving according to plan despite the fact that aid is not being allowed into the Gaza enclave in sufficient quantities but continues to be tightly controlled while Israel has just banned 38 international NGOs from operating in Gaza and the West Bank.
Meanwhile the Rafah Crossing in the south of the Strip continues to be firmly shut despite fact that the new technocratic committee, the new administration to rule Gaza, is yet to be allowed to enter the enclave. Israel is insisting that their last dead hostage, number 28, must be found and delivered to Tel Aviv before the new committee can start operating in Gaza.
This is still standing out as a sticking point. Hamas officials say they can’t find the final hostage, Ran Gvili, amidst the huge wreckage of Gaza and need more equipment. But locating him remains an outstanding question.
However, the Israeli government may still relent if enough pressure is brought on by the US government and therefore allow the new National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) to enter the enclave through the Rafah Crossing next week. The NCAG is still waiting in Cairo and held its first meeting there on 18 January 2026.
Meanwhile it remains difficult to fathom, at least for the time being of how will the new set up operate and interact with each other: The technical committee, Council of Peace and Trump being the Chair and how will that exist vis-a-vis the Israeli government. New faces and personalities are supposed to take new leads in diplomacy.
What’s for sure is that the Israeli army remains firmly in control of the Gaza Strip and will remain so if Hamas continues to have a presence there and is not militarily dismantled. They may say they will not leave even if there is no Hamas.
As well, they will continue to be trigger-happy and shoot at anything that moves in Gaza! We wait and see.
Dr Marwan Asmar is a journalist based in Amman
24 January 2026
Source: countercurrents.org