Inside Gaza: A ceasefire in name only
SHEJAIYA, Gaza City — On the desolate edge of Shejaiya, where kilometres of concrete rubble, blackened window frames and twisted steel still divide Gaza from Israel, the international agreement meant to end hostilities is instead interrupted by daily incursions that test the fragile ceasefire.
As one of the few media outlets to be given Israeli-led access to Gaza after last month’s U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement, the National Post saw a snapshot of the devastation, on the outskirts of Gaza City.
The on-the-ground visit highlighted the tension still simmering – that, in reality, may very well be dubbed “reduced fighting” – one where ammunition’s still fired, threats remain, though much of the heavy operations have already come to a close.
U.S. President Donald Trump and international mediators portrayed the deal as a historic step, but there’s a sense of reservation, even pessimism, among Israeli forces regarding the sustainability of the agreement.
Its implementation remains precarious, with both sides accusing each other of violations. Hamas, according to a Nov. 1 report from London-based Middle East Eye, said it has “fully complied” with the deal, accusing Israel of reducing aid and fuel, and unjustified killing.
Hamas – a designated terror entity in Canada and the U.S. – “has killed three Israeli soldiers since the ceasefire began,” IDF international spokesman Lt. Col Nadav Shoshani told the Post, in Shejaiya.
Under the terms, Hamas committed to returning hostages and to stay behind the Yellow Line, the demarcation separating the two sides’ deployment. But the bodies of three hostages remain unaccounted for, and the IDF says Hamas has consistently broken the deal. Examples include crossing the Yellow Line with the pretext of looking for hostages, yet continuing terror activity, according to the IDF.
“Their only mission allowed when they cross the Yellow Line is to look for hostages,” said Shoshani. “We’ve seen them cross, armed, and use this as an opportunity to hide explosives. We went to a spot, a house on our side of the Yellow Line – it was filled with explosives, fighting ammunition, that they placed in the guise of searching in the area. … We’ve found them placing new weaponry across the Yellow Line.”
It’s a daily occurrence, he said, to “test us, to test the agreement. Pushing it to the limits. They failed to return the hostages within 72 hours. That deadline passed a month ago. They’ve failed to disarm. On the contrary, they’ve tried to rearm. … They have made multiple attacks against our troops.”
At least one attempt was made to fool Israelis, according to Shoshani, referring to an incident where Hamas operatives staged the “discovery” of an Israeli hostage’s body in Gaza.
“They threw a body from a window, covered it, and pretended to find it,” he said.
Reports say those were the remains of Israeli hostage Ofir Tzarfati, moved by Hamas from one location, reburied and later uncovered in front of Red Cross personnel, pretending it was being found for the first time.
Meanwhile Israeli hostage Itay Chen’s body was found in the neighbourhood, and returned to Israel on Nov. 4. “There’s a possibility of more hostages in the area,” Shoshani told the Post.
Hamas has repeatedly revisited Shejaiya to rearm, with the assumed goal to attack nearby Israeli territory, he said. This base, one of many buffer zones, keeps deadly fire from reaching civilians.
Nir Oz, target of one of the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, is just under two kilometres away, two minutes by car. Sixty of its residents were murdered by the terror group. Ashkelon, the Israeli city port, is about 15 kilometres away, where terrorists’ rockets could reach in under 40 seconds. Two smokestacks from the city could be seen in the distance from Shejaiya.
Once numbering over 90,000 in population, Shejaiya was “one of the main focal points of Hamas even before October 7, just because of the main proximity” to Israeli towns. The IDF was unable to provide numbers of those who have returned to their homes post-ceasefire.
According to an Oct. 17 report by Drop Site News, few came back, having propped up makeshift tents. In a March report from Global Camp Coordination and Camp Management, they counted 275 returnees.
“Civilians had a chance to get out of harm’s way and remove themselves,” Shoshani said of evacuations.
All was quiet on the front: no blast sounds, or cracks of booms; no stuttering guns or flashes of fire. Just light wind flapping flags, shoes crackling through rough sand and the background murmur of soldiers’ chatter. Sand-dusted army jeeps, neatly lined, abutted the base camp, next to rows of white portables, where, like a Shakespearean play, men in fatigues with automatic weapons at the side, non-nonchalantly exited and entered stage left and stage right.
An intact bullet, some 10 cm in length (likely for a heavy-sniper gun) nearly met the bottom of my shoe if I hadn’t spotted it. I asked one of the IDF soldiers guiding us if I could take a closer look, maybe pick it up. The American-native, in her early twenties, with purple and green streaks in her hair and pristine long pink nails, said “leave it.”
Overlooking Shejaiya from atop a seven-metre beige dirt and sand hill, partially wrapped in tarp, there are no signs of any humans, fighter or civilian, amongst the ruins. Analogous to a demolition site, like we’ve all seen, in the days after a home was knocked down by construction crews. Copy and paste, for seven kilometres. But the pervasive colour was several shades of cement grey-scale.
Shoshani said that the city was the site of “some of the heaviest battles” and “one of the most heavy fought areas” with “thousands of terrorists.”
Dozens of senior IDF soldiers lost their lives in the area, he said. It was the rule, rather than the exception, that Hamas had “some sort of presence” all across the city, “in every home,” he said.
In the Israel Defense Forces Telegram channel, on July 31, 2025, they said they “dealt a significant blow to Hamas Shejaiya Battalion, which had attacked the communities near the Gaza Strip on October 7. During the combat, terrorists, some of whom were involved in the brutal massacre on October 7, were eliminated in coordinated operations.”
A top Hamas operative was reportedly killed during a Dec. 2, 2023, operation that Palestinian sources said left “hundreds” dead. In a June 2024 operation, the IDF said there was a “large number of terrorists” in the enclave, in addition to the discovery of a terrorists’ weapons storage in a school.
Shejaiya contains “extensive tunnel” infrastructure “in hundreds of kilometres,” where eliminating them sometimes meant the inevitable collapse of buildings on top of them. “New tunnels are still being found to this date,” said Shoshani.
Yet, there is a duality, something of a parallel universe viewed from Shejaiya. It’s the visible scars of crushed infrastructure; but off in the distance, the return of some daily life.
The heart of Gaza City, though difficult to discern from afar, still generally operates with intact high-rises, homes and various buildings. The IDF, I was informed, stopped its campaign there as the ceasefire took hold.
Special to National Post
The excursion was facilitated, and sponsored by, the Europe Israel Press Association (EIPA) and the American Middle East Press Association (AMEPA). The Israel Defense Forces previewed the article prior to submission.
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