Israel marked the third anniversary of the October 7, 2023 attacks on October 7, 2026, under heightened security three weeks before a general election, with memorials at Kibbutz Kfar Aza and the Nova festival site [6]. A ceasefire has been in effect in Gaza since October 2025, but AFP tallies record more than 1,430 Palestinians killed since the truce, and the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry puts the figure at 1,460 [6][9]. UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for the ceasefire to become permanent, for humanitarian assistance at scale, and for respect for international law [13].

The ceasefire's central impasse is a sequencing clash over disarmament [22]. Israel states it will not withdraw forces from Gaza until Hamas is fully disarmed, and says its operations target Hamas militants attempting to carry out attacks or rebuild military capabilities [17][22]. Netanyahu rejected the US-backed roadmap — described in some reports as a 15-point plan and in others as Trump's 20-point plan — saying the army will not withdraw until Hamas is fully disarmed [34][17]. Hamas's head in Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya, said the movement's weapons are tied to the existence of the occupation and would transfer to a future Palestinian state if the occupation ends [26]. The Gaza Health Ministry dismissed Israeli justifications for attacking hospitals as fabrications meant to justify further strikes on the remaining health system [9].

Israeli-controlled territory in Gaza rose from about 53% to 64.9% by June 2026 [17]. Netanyahu told French media he ordered the army not to respect the ceasefire terms and to take control of 70% of the Strip: «Nous contrôlons maintenant 60% du territoire de la bande... ma directive est de passer à 70» (We now control 60% of the Strip's territory... my directive is to reach 70) [19]. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the colonization of Gaza is now a realistic action plan rather than a pious wish, and that Gaza is an inseparable part of the Land of Israel [19]. Defense Minister Israël Katz said the army is ready, when the order comes, to eliminate Hamas and implement a migration plan, stating there is no real solution for Gaza without migration of its population [19][29]. The Yesha Council, representing West Bank settlers, met ministers to set coalition demands centered on applying sovereignty in the West Bank and expanding settlements [33].

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called what is happening in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem a colonial project aimed at making Palestinians' lives harder and forcing them to leave [19]. In East Jerusalem, Rae'd Basbous described an 11-year legal battle ending in eviction from his family home in Silwan's Batn al-Hawa neighborhood, where 86 Palestinian families face eviction [3]. Human Rights Watch stated that Israeli authorities are pursuing their long-standing illegal policy of evicting Palestinian residents from neighborhoods around Jerusalem's Old City to replace them with settlers, calling these measures war crimes enabled by impunity [19]. The UN Human Rights Office warned earlier in the year against an "ethnic cleansing" in the occupied Palestinian territories [19]. In the West Bank village of Umm al-Khair, local council president Khalil said settlers have taken pastures, mountains, and wells by force and encircled the village like a small prison [12]. Peace Now recorded 25 settler outposts established since the start of the year, after 91 in 2025 [12].

UN humanitarian advocacy updates state the ceasefire is "not a ceasefire" as Palestinians continue to face daily violence and forced displacement, with most of Gaza's 2.1 million people displaced in overcrowded sites without adequate shelter [25]. Aid enters at roughly 227 trucks a day against a 600-truck target, and around two-thirds of Gaza remains inaccessible behind the Israeli Yellow Line [17][25]. One in four Gazan households is now headed by a lone woman, double the pre-war level, with more than 86,000 women raising children alone [24]. More than 11,000 people remain unaccounted for, including an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 suspected of enforced disappearance [10][18]. The Committee to Protect Journalists called Israel's campaign the deadliest and most deliberate effort to kill and silence journalists it has ever documented, with approximately 250 journalists killed since October 7, 2023 [21].

Israeli survivors and bereaved families describe unresolved trauma. Former hostage Keith Siegel said he is living a dual life and called for an independent inquiry into October 7 [7]. Bereaved father Yaakov Godo interrupted Netanyahu's commemoration speech, saying: "You did not protect my son on 7 October, you did not protect 1,200 people murdered in one day. Shame!" [7]. Netanyahu opposes an independent state commission of inquiry [7]. Rachel Goldberg-Polin, mother of slain hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, described her daily grief and her effort to keep feelings of hatred and revenge away [5].

A CIA report titled "Internal Fracture" warned that Israel risks internal collapse or civil war before the October 27 elections, citing the ultra-Orthodox conscription exemption dispute, settler violence, food inflation, and rising military spending [8][11]. Netanyahu gave voters the ultimatum to "choose me or Palestine" [8]. President Herzog warned against growing divisions in Israeli society [8]. Maariv reported a crisis between Netanyahu and his Haredi partners over the conscription law, with Haredi leadership signaling openness to dispersing the Knesset [32]. Al Jazeera reported that Israeli society has shifted further right since October 7, sidelining voices calling for a political settlement [15].

Eight European and allied states warned that Israel's E1 settlement plan flagrantly violates international law and would fragment the West Bank [17]. Foreign ministers of Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, Indonesia, Pakistan, Türkiye, and Saudi Arabia called for full implementation of the Gaza peace plan and backed a path toward an independent Palestinian state [17]. China's UN envoy Fu Cong urged Israel to stop settlement activity and lift aid restrictions, calling for full implementation of the ceasefire and upholding "Palestinians governing Palestine" [17][39]. Arab League assistant secretary-general Faed Mustafa said the gap between international positions and enforcement lets Israel act with impunity [28]. UN Acting Special Coordinator Ramiz Alakbarov said a military solution to a political conflict is impossible and that peace requires an irreversible political horizon [20].

Chinese researcher Yu Guoqing argued the US-led reconstruction blueprint treats Gaza as a real estate development project rather than addressing the humanitarian disaster [4]. Analyst Niu Xinchun said the US-Israeli push to make Hamas's complete disarmament the sole condition has stalled humanitarian aid and post-war reconstruction [17]. Russian envoy Vasily Nebenzya said the Security Council is blessing a US initiative on Washington's "word of honor" and handing Gaza over to the Board of Peace and International Stabilization Force [38].

The UK formally recognized Palestine under Keir Starmer in September 2025, and under Prime Minister Andy Burnham banned imports from illegal settlements, with Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband accusing "settler terrorists" of ethnic cleansing [16]. Turkey issued an international arrest warrant against Netanyahu on charges including genocide and crimes against humanity [36]. South Africa stated its commitment to the Genocide Convention as it reviews Israel's ICJ response [37]. Iran's Foreign Ministry said halting the crimes does not absolve states of pursuing justice against perpetrators [35].

The Israeli-Palestinian Bereaved Families Forum and Combatants for Peace wrote to Trump and the Board of Peace urging an end to conflict management and a genuine political process, stating that only ending the occupation will prevent more bereaved families [31]. Kibbutz Nir Oz caretaker Shlomo Margalit said he does not believe Israelis can ignore that Palestinians live there and that both peoples must find a way to live securely together [7].

The October 27 Israeli election approaches as the next political milestone [14][22]. The Board of Peace unveiled a $2.45 billion reconstruction plan, a fraction of the assessed $71.4 billion needed [29]. The Conversation's analysis warns that a more moderate centre-right government could weaken the international pressure the Netanyahu coalition made easy to mobilize [14].