TEHRAN – As expected, the Gaza ceasefire brokered under U.S. President Donald Trump’s “peace plan” has once exposed itself as a cruel illusion after the Israeli occupation regime’s most violent bombing campaign since it took effect on October 10. 

The occupying regime's military killed more than 100 Palestinians, including at least 46 children and 20 women. More than 255 others were severely injured, and the death toll is expected to rise. The devastation, unfolding under the world’s watch, underscores how the so-called “peace” promoted by Washington has served only to deepen Palestinian suffering while shielding the occupying regime from accountability.

Sham ceasefire with ulterior motives

The mass escalation in Gaza coincides with America’s attempt to reassert itself as a “peacemaker” in West Asia. But behind the rhetoric of restraint and diplomacy, Trump’s ceasefire initiative has proven to be a political maneuver designed to buy time for the Israeli regime. 

Far from halting violence, the truce allowed the occupying regime a strategic pause, an opportunity to regroup militarily and diplomatically amid growing international isolation and condemnation of its ongoing crimes against humanity.

The United States, under Trump’s leadership, sought to reshape the narrative by positioning itself as a mediator in a crisis it has long fueled through military aid, diplomatic cover, and vetoes at the United Nations. 

The result has been a hollow performance of peacemaking, where a ceasefire functions as an instrument of control rather than steps toward justice.

No peace for Palestinians

For Palestinians trapped under an ongoing siege and burying their loved ones, the so-called truce brought neither safety nor reprieve. Airstrikes by Israeli occupation forces since early Wednesday morning targeted civilian neighborhoods across the Gaza Strip, from Deir al-Balah in the center to the densely populated al-Shati Refugee Camp in the west of Gaza City. 

Families seeking shelter were buried under rubble. Five barely functioning hospitals overflowed with the injured, and emergency workers faced desperate shortages of fuel and medical supplies.

The Gaza Ministry of Health confirmed that at least 104 people were killed in the latest indiscriminate bombing campaign. The ministry added that 211 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli occupation forces since the truce began and another 597 have been injured.

The government media office also said the death of journalist Mohammed al-Munirawi, bringing the number of Palestinian journalists killed by the Israeli regime to 256. 

These figures are not statistics of a conflict; they are evidence of systematic targeting, carried out under the cover of a ceasefire that was never intended to end the genocide.

For Gazans who have endured over two relentless years of a genocidal campaign, these harrowing scenes are heartbreakingly familiar.

Silence of the international community

As Gaza’s Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal described, “In less than twelve hours, the Israeli occupation (forces) have committed horrific massacres against civilians… documented crimes that add to the ongoing record of violations.” 

Yet, the international community’s response remains one of muted concern and diplomatic paralysis.

World leaders who once pledged to end the genocide watched in silence with empty statements as Palestinians were killed in makeshift tent camps and entire families were wiped out. 

Breathing space for the occupier

For the Zionist regime, the truce served a dual purpose: to repair its image and to consolidate its occupation. As international criticism intensified, the ceasefire became a tactical tool, a pause to deflect global outrage while continuing war crimes under new pretexts. 

The Israeli regime, emboldened by unwavering U.S. backing, has turned every lull in fighting into an opportunity to prepare for the next round of destruction.

Meanwhile, Washington uses these moments to polish its diplomatic credentials, selling the illusion of balance while ensuring that Israeli interests remain untouched. Trump’s “peace plan” thus emerges not as a roadmap to stability, but as a political shield for continued oppression.

The U.S. president, who was boasting about peace three weeks ago, told reporters “as I understand it, they took out an Israeli soldier. So, the Israelis hit back and they should hit back.”

Amid mysterious claims surrounding the death of an Israeli occupation soldier, over 100 Palestinians were massacred and the man who claimed to have “solved” the genocidal war showed zero signs of empathy. Adding irony to tragedy, his vice president, JD Vance, claimed the truce was still holding, aside from a few “little skirmishes here and there.”

No end in sight

What remains in Gaza today is not peace, but a deepening tragedy. The supposed ceasefire has collapsed into another chapter of bloodshed, exposing the moral bankruptcy of a process that pretends to balance two sides while one continues to occupy, besiege, and annihilate the other.

For Palestinians, there is no end in sight, only the grim certainty that under Trump’s so-called peace plan, the bloodshed will continue, and any statements of peace, justice, and accountability remain as distant as ever.