A ceasefire can ultimately stop new bombs from falling, but it cannot make the weapons already buried beneath Gaza safe. Although it is a “broken ceasefire” that has been violated more than a hundred times by Israel, Palestinians still have hope. Whenever families return to their damaged homes, they will find more than broken concrete and twisted steel.

Israel said it carried out more than 40,000 airstrikes on Gaza by October 2024. Alarmingly, the UN Mine Action Service estimates that 5% to 10% of explosive munitions have failed to explode.

Gaza Has Become an Unmapped Minefield

Unexploded ordnance is extremely dangerous because it is hard to identify and may become less stable after impact. In Gaza, rather than lying in open air, numerous lethal weapons are buried inside collapsed apartment blocks, under roads, beside water systems, or beneath homes where displaced people are trying to live again.

A credible news agency, Reuters, documented a bomb more than a meter long on a rubbish heap in Gaza City. Moreover, a family in Nuseirat is unable to return because a device remained inside their home, and residents of Khan Younis are living above a suspected bomb buried beneath their building. UN teams have also found aircraft bombs, mortars, rockets, and improvised explosive devices on the surface, while warning that many more are likely to be deep under the rubble.

By October 2025, a UN-led database had recorded more than 53 deaths and hundreds of injuries from explosive remnants in Gaza. Aid organizations, such as UNRWA, believe the real total is higher because many incidents are never formally reported. Additionally, Humanity & Inclusion estimated that clearing surface contamination alone could take 20 to 30 years, while deeply buried weapons may remain a threat for generations.

Rubble Clearance Cannot Begin Blindly

As per the UN estimates, Gaza now contains an estimated 61 million tonnes of rubble. By April 2026, UNDP teams had removed about 287,000 tonnes, less than half of 1% of the total. The agency said the wider effort could take seven years or even more, and only if heavy machinery, fuel, and access are consistently available. Reconstruction needs have been placed at $71.4 billion over the coming decade.

These figures aptly show why unexploded weapons are inseparable from reconstruction. Before workers reopen a road, reach a water well, repair a hospital, or clear land for housing, specialists may need to survey the site. A bulldozer cannot safely enter simply because the fighting has stopped.

Near Khan Younis, a bulldozer struck a concealed explosive while clearing a road. The driver and a 15-year-old boy suffered severe burns and shrapnel wounds, and both lost sight in one eye.

The debris may also contain asbestos, contaminated dust, sewage, fuel, industrial chemicals, and human remains. Clearance is therefore a demining, environmental, and public-health operation, not merely a construction job.

Children and Returning Families Face the Greatest Risk

Children search damaged buildings for toys, clothing, wood, plastic, or scrap metal. A fuse, shell fragment, or small munition may look useful or harmless. So, as a precaution, warning posters can reduce some risk, but they cannot replace trained clearance teams.

Returning families face the same danger on a larger scale. Many enter homes without structural inspections, move debris by hand, and salvage whatever can be reused. Some extract steel bars from destroyed buildings to support tents or sell for income because construction materials remain scarce. That work brings innocent civilians into direct contact with debris that has not been systematically checked.

The threat will grow whenever more displaced people return to heavily damaged neighborhoods. Without large-scale clearance, Gaza risks inheriting the same decades-long danger seen in other countries where unexploded weapons continued killing civilians long after wars ended.

The Equipment Needed Has Been Restricted

As a professional practice, bomb disposal teams require detectors, armoured vehicles, protective clothing, firing cables, controlled explosives and specialised excavation equipment. But Israeli authorities rejected requests for more than 2,000 demining items between March and July 2024, including equipment needed for safe detonations and protected access. Aid groups said these restrictions and blockages prevented clearance work from beginning.

Gaza’s own capacity has also been reduced to almost nothing. Thirty-one members of the local police engineering division were killed, and another 22 were injured during the genocide. International teams need visas, security guarantees, and permission to bring equipment into the territory. Without strike records and technical information about the weapons used, specialists must work with incomplete maps.

Responsibility Cannot End With the Bombing

A UN-coordinated estimate placed the cost of clearing Gaza’s unexploded ordnance at about $500 million over ten years, assuming cooperation and unrestricted access. Later assessments suggested surface clearance may take even more than two or three decades.

That burden cannot be placed on innocent Palestinians alone. Israel holds information about its strikes and munitions. Governments that supplied weapons have technical expertise, records, and financial resources. On the other hand, donors discussing reconstruction must treat explosive clearance as a first requirement, not an optional project after roads and buildings are planned.

In a nutshell, Gaza cannot be rebuilt safely while bombs remain beneath homes, schools, hospitals and streets. The slow pace of genocide does not end the danger. Before families can return with confidence, the weapons still buried beneath the rubble must be mapped, removed, and destroyed.

The latest US-Iran talks show how quickly the world can move when a crisis threatens oil, shipping, and regional markets. After the Strait of Hormuz became a flashpoint, Washington moved into negotiations. Although the attacks by Israel and the United States on Iran were unprovoked, the resulting ceasefire is a reflection of the enfeebled power of the United States and Israel.

However, one thing is evident: when the global economy feels pressure, urgency arrives. But that urgency is not being shown to Gaza and Lebanon. This is the central problem with the current regional diplomacy. The Strait of Hormuz is being treated as a global emergency, while Israel’s continued genocide in Gaza and violence in Lebanon is treated as a difficult-to-manage side issue.

Why Hormuz Became the Priority

The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most important energy routes. Around one-fifth of global oil and natural gas normally passes through this narrow waterway between Iran and Oman. When the US-Israel escalation with Iran raised the risk of disruption, the concern was immediate because any closure or attack near Hormuz could affect energy prices, insurance costs, shipping schedules, and the wider global economy.

Following a ceasefire announcement, the US indicated it would waive sanctions on Iran for 60 days after the first talks under a new peace framework. The talks, held in Switzerland and mediated by Qatar and Pakistan, were described as part of a roadmap toward a final deal within 60 days. Moreover, they included a communications mechanism to help ensure the safe passage of commercial ships through Hormuz.

This does not simply mean the crisis is over. Iran and the US still disagree over a lot of issues, like nuclear inspections and the details of the deal. Gulf states remain worried about Iranian power, Israeli escalation, and the possibility of another breakdown. But the speed of the diplomatic response tells its own story. Hormuz became urgent because Hormuz affects global trade.

The Problem Is Not Diplomacy but Selective Diplomacy

Keeping Hormuz open matters due to the fact that millions of people could feel the economic shock of a major disruption. The problem is not that diplomats are trying to calm the waterway. The problem is that the same level of pressure is not applied when Israel keeps killing innocent Palestinians and Lebanese civilians.

This is where US diplomacy becomes morally exposed. Washington can move quickly when shipping lanes, oil prices, and Gulf allies are at risk. Yet when Gaza’s children are killed after a ceasefire, or when Lebanese families remain displaced from destroyed villages, the language becomes cautious, delayed, and full of exceptions for Israel.

Lebanon Shows the Limits of the Deal

Lebanon is supposed to be one of the places where regional de-escalation becomes visible. Although the interim US-Iran agreement called for ending hostilities, including in Lebanon, it is not being realized completely. Israel, however, has declared that it will not withdraw from southern Lebanon unless its unrealistic conditions are met.

This is why the Lebanon file remains so fragile. Despite withdrawing from Lebanon and providing the innocent people a sigh of relief, Israel is pushing forward. Israel has established what it calls a buffer zone about 10 km inside Lebanon, forcing local civilians from their homes and carrying out raids and demolitions in villages.

When it comes to the human cost, more than 1.2 million people were displaced during the fighting, about a fifth of Lebanon’s population. Lebanon’s National Council for Scientific Research indicated that more than 90,000 housing units were damaged or destroyed between March 2 and June 12. Other credible reports also highlighted that tens of thousands remain displaced because their homes are gone or their towns remain under Israeli military occupation.

Gaza Remains the Deepest Failure

Since the October 2025 ceasefire, Israeli attacks have killed more than 1,027 Palestinians and injured 3,280 others. Gaza’s Health Ministry highlighted that the total number of Palestinians killed since October 2023 has exceeded 73,041, with 173,402 wounded. These numbers do not describe a genocide moving toward peace. They describe a population still being punished while the world discusses arrangements elsewhere.

Gaza should have been discussed in the recent peace talks, too, but the world is moving towards a moral crisis. The destruction of Gaza, the blockade on aid, the brutal killing of innocent children, and the forced displacement of families are the reasons anger across the Muslim world remains so deep.

Israel Keeps Undermining Regional Peace

Any honest discussion of regional de-escalation must confront Israel’s role. The US wants Iran to lower tensions, the Gulf states want shipping security, and mediators want the fighting to stop. Yet Israel continues to act with carte blanche in Gaza and Lebanon.

There is a wide contradiction between the world’s policies. Israel is not treated as a spoiler in the same way as others are. Its attacks are framed as security needs, while Palestinian and Lebanese suffering is framed as an unfortunate fallout. This double standard is one reason ceasefire efforts keep failing in practice.

If Israel can continue bombing Gaza, occupy parts of southern Lebanon, and delay withdrawal without serious consequences, then regional calm remains fragile. It may hold for oil markets, but it will not hold for the people living under attack.

Ultimately, peace cannot be built by protecting tankers while ignoring tents, hospitals, and destroyed villages. A regional deal that treats shipping as urgent but civilian blood as negotiable is not peace. It is selective stability, built for markets before innocent people.

The latest UN inquiry on Gaza’s children has changed the way this genocide must be discussed. It is no longer enough to say that children have died in large numbers, as if their deaths were only a tragic side of military operations. The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry evidently described that Israeli authorities and the ISF have deliberately targeted Palestinian children. These actions are not limited to crimes against humanity but are a deliberate genocide.

The reason why this new finding matters is that it places the innocent children of Gaza at the centre of genocide. Unfortunately, Gaza’s children have been brutally killed by airstrikes, drones, and direct sniper fire. They have been wounded in shelters, deprived of food and medicine, pushed into disease, and left with trauma that no child should carry. Moreover, the report also extends beyond Gaza. It documented serious violations against Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank, including detention, settler violence, and mistreatment.

The Scale of Child Deaths in Gaza

Between October 7, 2023, and October 7, 2025, for two years, at least 20,179 Palestinian children were killed in Gaza. These are the official figures cited in reporting on the UN inquiry. Shockingly, children made up more than 30 percent of those killed.

On the other hand, UNICEF has also estimated that more than 50,000 children have been brutally killed or wounded since Israel’s genocide in Gaza began. These numbers show how deeply the violence has entered Palestinian family life. Especially in Gaza, almost every school, street, tent camp, and hospital corridor carries the memory of a child who was killed, injured, orphaned, or displaced.

Additionally, the UN Commission also noted Israel’s use of high-payload munitions and wide-area weapons in densely populated areas. Gaza is already a trapped and crowded strip of land where families have repeatedly been forced from one area to another. Ultimately, when heavy weapons are used in such places, children are placed directly inside or rather being hidden from genocidal risk.

Why the Word “Targeting” Matters

The most serious part of the UN report is not only the death toll. In fact, it is the finding that “Palestinian children were deliberately targeted”. That word changes the meaning of the evidence.

In this context, the commission examined cases involving children killed by quadcopter drones and sniper fire, including incidents where medical evidence suggested precise shooting. The inquiry also criticised the way Israeli forces described some killed children as “suspects,” a label that can turn even childhood into a security accusation.

This is one of the most dangerous features of Israel’s assault on Gaza. When a Palestinian child can be treated as a threat, the normal rules of humanity are ultimately turned upside down. A child searching for food, standing near a shelter, moving with family, or living in a crowded neighbourhood becomes vulnerable not only to bombs, but to a military logic that sees Palestinian life itself as suspicious.

The Ceasefire Did Not Save Gaza’s Children

The October 2025 ceasefire was supposed to reduce the killing and open a path toward stability. Yet Palestinian children have continued to die.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 1,027 people have been killed since the ceasefire, including 258 children. One recent case was 12-year-old Ahmed Mohsen al-Raqab, martyred by an Israeli drone strike in al-Mawasi, the southern Gaza area where displaced families had taken shelter after being forced from other parts of the enclave.

This is why the word “ceasefire” has become painful and unrealistic for Palestinians. A ceasefire that does not protect children in displacement camps cannot be treated as peace. It becomes another political arrangement that looks stronger in statements than it does on the ground.

The Attack on Birth, Health and Childhood

The UN inquiry also looked at the conditions that allow children to be born, treated, and kept alive in Gaza. It said attacks on maternity and neonatal services endangered newborn survival and harmed Palestinians’ reproductive future. It also pointed to rising miscarriages, birth defects, and widespread psychological harm, including trauma among children.

This part of the report is an eye-opener. Genocide is not only carried out through direct killing. It is also being carried out by destroying the systems that sustain life.

A newborn in Gaza needs a safe delivery room, electricity, medicine, clean water, warmth, and trained medical staff. While a wounded child needs surgery, antibiotics, and a place to recover. A sick child needs nutrition and vaccines. When hospitals are attacked, supplies are blocked, and families are displaced again and again, childhood becomes a struggle for basic survival.

The West Bank Is Part of the Pattern

The inquiry also documented violations against Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. It reported settler violence, arrests, detention, torture, sexual and gender-based violence, forced stripping, beatings, and food deprivation.

The methods are not identical to Gaza, but the impact is deeply interconnected. In Gaza, children are deliberately bombed, starved, and displaced. While in the West Bank, they are detained, intimidated, attacked by settlers, and pushed through a system that treats Palestinian childhood as a threat to be controlled.

Accountability Cannot Remain a Statement

The UN report should not become another document that governments mention briefly and then ignore. Its findings matter for the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court, and every state that continues to arm, fund, or politically shield Israel.

Accountability must mean protection for children, open aid routes, medical evacuation, protection for hospitals and schools, and consequences for those responsible for attacks on innocent civilians. It must also mean ending the habit of treating Palestinian deaths as unfortunate but acceptable.

In a nutshell, children still dying after a ceasefire is not a misunderstanding but a deliberate act of genocide to wipe out the future of Gaza.