'Every day there is killing': Gazans face Israeli strikes despite ceasefire as peace deal stalls

'Every day there is killing': Gazans face Israeli strikes despite ceasefire as peace deal stalls To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. This video can not be played Figure caption, Fida al-Toutah's family say they witnessed her being killed by Israeli gunfire in their tent two weeks ago By Yogita Limaye Reporting from Jerusalem Published 2 hours ago In her tent in central Gaza early one morning last month, 31-year-old Fida al-Toutah, a mother of five, was combing her daughter's hair when the sound of gunfire erupted. "My mother shouted at us to get down," her son Ezz recalled, weeping as he spoke. He only realised Fida had been hit when he saw the bloodied hands of his younger brother, who had been clinging onto his mother as the bullets came in. "Our mother was so kind and generous. What did she do wrong?" Ezz said. Fida died on 21 September from a gunshot wound to the head. She is among more than 1,400 people in Gaza who have been killed in Israeli attacks since the start of the ceasefire on 10 October last year, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN. Image caption, Fida was one of the more than 1,400 people killed since the ceasefire began, according to Gaza's health ministry The ceasefire saw thousands of Palestinians held by Israel released in return for all of the 48 remaining hostages held in Gaza, and an agreement to end the war - which was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, when about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage. On the ground in Gaza, it meant that Israel's large-scale bombardment stopped, which brought substantial relief and an increase in humanitarian aid and medical supplies entering the territory. But even during the ceasefire, Israel has continued launching strikes in Gaza almost every day. In the past week alone more than 30 people have been killed, according to Gaza's health ministry. Israel says it is targeting Hamas operatives, and accuses Hamas of continued violations of the ceasefire. "It [the ceasefire] is all lies. Every day there's a shooting. Every day there is killing and death lurking around," said Ahed, Fida's husband. In response to the BBC's questions about Fida's killing, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they had no record of the incident. The total death toll from Israeli attacks since the start of the war in Gaza three years ago now stands at more than 74,000, according to the Gaza health ministry. Image caption, Ibrahim has lost four siblings, including Fida, since the start of the war in 2023 Outside Fida's tent, her brother Ibrahim pointed to the holes he said were made by a volley of bullets fired by Israeli forces. "This tent is just a piece of cloth. Imagine that a military vehicle came down here and fired a spray of bullets," he said. "There was also gunfire coming from the sky, from above, from quadcopters, and it was directed at unarmed civilians." Fida is the fourth of Ibrahim's siblings to be killed since the start of the war. "We left our neighbourhood Zeitoun to survive, but death is following us," he said. The family has moved seven times but safety has been out of reach. Most of Gaza's 2.1 million population has been displaced multiple times by the war, the UN says, with many forced to live in tented cities and unsafe structures. On the same day that Fida was killed, 14-year-old Ismail al-Bardawil was also shot dead. He was killed in the al-Mawasi area of Rafah, in southern Gaza. His family told the BBC that he was shot by Israeli forces while he and his brothers were fishing in the Mediterranean Sea, around 20m (66ft) from the shore. He is one of more than 300 children killed since the start of the ceasefire, according to Gaza's health ministry. The IDF said it had no information about this incident either. Over the past year, the IDF has released videos of its operations in Gaza targeted at Hamas and other groups. At least seven Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the start of the ceasefire. Both Fida and Ismail lived close to the so-called Yellow Line that separates the areas occupied by the Israeli military in Gaza from areas controlled by Hamas in the west. Areas around the line are considered the most dangerous because Israeli forces have frequently opened fire there. But there are few options to move because there is an extreme shortage of space. The strip was densely populated even before the war began. Now, its population is squeezed into under 40% of its area, which is controlled by Hamas. In those areas the group maintains a tight grip, clamping down on dissent and still recruiting fighters. In May this year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had directed the IDF to increase the area of Gaza under Israel's control to 70%. Image caption, Reconstruction has yet to begin in Gaza a year after a ceasefire came into force Architect Amal Alabadla, who lived in a comfortable flat prior to the war, now lives in a tent on the coastline. "Every time the rains come, it gets flooded. I feel very scared when the wind is strong because our tent gets destroyed or damaged," she said. Amal is forced to raise her two boys - Mohammed and Noah - on her own. Her husband was not in Gaza when the war broke out, and in three years they have not been reunited. Amal's three brothers, who helped her care for the boys, were killed in separate attacks before the ceasefire began. Image source, Amal Alabadla Image caption, Amal Alabadla says she's struggling to raise her sons alone inside a tent on Gaza's coast "During the winter, my son suffers from epilepsy seizures because of the cold. It's very hard sometimes to keep him dry and warm," she said. "Before the war, I had a job, a house, an ordinary life, but then everything turned upside down. Now we have no hope, nothing. It's only about survival day by day, to keep my kids alive, clean, healthy and fed." There are camps further inland in Gaza that have even been built below sea level, which are at greater risk of flooding. The October 2025 peace deal was supposed to pave the way for the reconstruction in Gaza, but rebuilding has not yet begun - stuck in limbo because of an impasse over the second phase of the deal. Israel strictly controls what materials and machinery are allowed into Gaza, acting, it says, for reasons of its own security. Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump put forward a plan to disarm Hamas, but in August it was rejected by Netanyahu, who stated that no military pull-out would happen until Hamas was "genuinely" disarmed. Hamas has said handing over its heavy weapons is contingent on Israel ending "all forms of aggression" and withdrawing its forces from Gaza. Half a world away, Trump's Board of Peace has also proposed a recovery plan for Gaza worth $2.45bn (£1.85bn). But, one year on from the ceasefire and three years on from the start of the war, many like Amal are deeply sceptical of things actually changing on the ground. "We are struggling and not being allowed to rebuild," she said. "I don't think they are telling us the truth about allowing us to rebuild a safe future for our children." Additional reporting by Imogen Anderson and Malak Hassouneh Related topics Israel-Gaza war Hamas Israel Palestinian territories Israel & the Palestinians More on this story Teenager shows BBC life inside Gaza displacement camp Published 2 days ago Families' agonising search for answers as thousands still missing in Gaza Published 19 August Reports of violence against women in Gaza surge, UN agency finds Published 23 September