Updates: Gaza humanitarian crisis worsening despite Israel, Hamas ceasefire

For more on how the Trump administration has been applying pressure on its longtime ally Israel to abide by the Gaza plan, see our analysis here.

You can also check out this warning from the head of the World Health Organization, who says the hunger crisis in Gaza remains at “catastrophic” levels.

Or find even more of Al Jazeera’s coverage on our Israel-Palestine conflict page, here.

This live page will be closing soon. Here are today’s main developments:

• Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israel’s war on the enclave has killed at least 68,280 people and wounded 170,375 since October 2023.
• US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance strongly denounced an Israeli Knesset vote in favour of West Bank annexation.
• The Israeli army claimed it had killed those responsible for the kidnapping of Noa Argamani, Avinatan Or and Eitan Mor on October 7, 2023.
• US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that “good progress” was being made on the US-led Gaza plan, but more work needed to be done.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government and the Trump administration enjoy “a circle of trust and partnership”.
• World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at least $7bn would be needed to rebuild Gaza’s health facilities.
• Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich apologised for saying the Saudis could “keep riding camels” after refusing normalisation in exchange for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
• Dozens of Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian olive pickers in Turmus Aya, north of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, according to the Wafa news agency.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) says US Vice President JD Vance was right in calling the Israeli push to annex the occupied West Bank “an insult”.

But CAIR official Robert McCaw stressed that “de facto annexation” of the Palestinian territory is already a reality on the ground, as Israel has expanded illegal settlements and imposed a “two-tiered legal system that privileges settlers while suffocating Palestinian life”.

“For decades, US presidents have opposed annexation in words while arming Israel in practice,” McCaw said in a statement.

“If President Trump and Vice President Vance truly believe annexation should end US support, that principle must apply to the de facto annexation now underway. The United States must stop funding, arming, and diplomatically shielding Israel’s apartheid system as it continues to seize Palestinian land and deny basic rights.”

Israeli forces stormed the Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank, according to the Wafa news agency.

The report said soldiers stormed the camp, deploying in several neighbourhoods and firing bullets and sound bombs.

Four people have been killed in Israeli air strikes in eastern and southern Lebanon, according to the country’s Health Ministry.

The ministry reported that strikes in mountainous areas in the east “resulted in an initial death toll of two” people.

It later stated that two others were killed in a separate strike in the south around Nabatieh, with the official National News Agency (NNA) reporting an elderly woman was one of the dead.

The NNA had earlier said that “Israeli warplanes launched a series of violent strikes on the eastern mountain range” in the Bekaa region near the border with Syria.

It also reported that two Israeli strikes targeted the Hermel range in the country’s northeast.

Israel’s war on Gaza has not only devastated its cities, but also crippled its financial system.

The World Bank estimates that 93 percent of bank branches in Gaza have been destroyed or rendered non-functional, leaving residents with dwindling access to cash. Most ATMs are out of service, and damaged banknotes are being rejected by traders.

Desperation has given rise to an informal economy of cash brokers, who charge exorbitant commissions, sometimes taking more than half of people’s wages. In this crisis, digital banking applications have become a lifeline.

Once scarcely used, these apps now allow Palestinians to purchase essentials like food and medicine and to pay their rent. Economists warn, however, that this shift towards a cashless society is fraught with risks, including the lack of financial infrastructure and frequent internet disruptions.

Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum reports from central Gaza’s Deir el-Balah:

Amid the ongoing ceasefire, in Gaza City, food prices have lowered, but another issue has arisen – a lack of cash.

Samira Ahmed, who lives in Gaza City, told Al Jazeera that while food in the market is lower than what it was two months ago, people have run out of cash.

“Despite some items … at an affordable price, [people] have spent their money on displacement. You can say people are broke now,” Ahmed said.

“For example, one kilo of rice was between $18 and $25, now it is $3.50, yet many people cannot afford to pay for one kilo of rice. I see people cutting down on canned food and try to buy more of fresh produce, but these are still expensive,” she added.

Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has noted that despite the Gaza ceasefire, dozens of Palestinians had been killed in continued Israeli attacks while people across the enclave continue to lack food, water and other critical aid.

“The last 10 days demonstrate, yet again, the abandonment of Palestinian lives by Israel and the international community. Vague agreements and empty declarations will not protect civilians or ensure these crimes are not repeated,” the group said in a social media post.

It called on the international community to take “immediate and effective action to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the population and allow full humanitarian access” to the Strip while also demanding accountability “from those who ordered and oversaw the genocide”.

“Citizens of the world also bear a moral and human responsibility to continue demanding protection and recognition for the people of Gaza as victims of genocide,” it said.

“We must oppose the shameful attempts, by governments in Israel and elsewhere, to enable the perpetrators to evade accountability and allow Israel to erase its crimes and continue its violence against Palestinians under the ongoing systems of occupation and apartheid.”

Despite Trump’s talk of a “regional peace deal,” the details of the agreement between Israel and Hamas remain vague and clearly do not include mechanisms for its enforcement. On the ground, life in Gaza remains horrifying and deadly, with fundamental rights violated by the hour… pic.twitter.com/3VfebyBKTv

— B'Tselem בצלם بتسيلم (@btselem) October 23, 2025

Volker Turk has welcomed yesterday’s ruling by the International Court of Justice, which found that Israel must provide for the basic needs of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and allow aid into the territory.

“Israel – and all other States – must comply with the law as made clear in the Court’s ruling, and act swiftly to bring about meaningful improvements to the appalling human rights and humanitarian situation on the ground,” the UN human rights chief said in a statement.

“Other parties to the conflict must also comply with their obligations under international law. That starts with saving lives rather than placing them at grave risk, and flooding Gaza with much-needed aid.”

Let’s bring you up to speed:

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his government and the Trump administration enjoy “a circle of trust and partnership” as he welcomed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for talks in Jerusalem.
• On his part, Rubio stressed that “good progress” is being made on the US-led Gaza ceasefire plan but made clear that more work remains to be done.
• At least one person has been killed and three others wounded after an Israeli attack on the town of Arabsalim, southern Lebanon.
• The Israeli army has claimed that it killed those responsible for the kidnapping of Noa Argamani, Avinatan Or, and Eitan Mor on October 7, 2023.
• World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said at least $7bn would be needed to rebuild Gaza’s health facilities following Israel’s war on the enclave.

Testimonies from released Palestinian prisoners, as well as the condition of bodies handed over, highlight alleged Israeli abuse.

Watch our video below on what we know so far:

A spokesperson for the head of the Palestinian Authority, President Mahmoud Abbas, has welcomed Trump’s warning to Israel, in the Time Magazine interview, that it would lose all US support if it moves ahead with a push to annex the occupied West Bank.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh also urged the US president “to continue making more significant efforts that can achieve security and stability in the Middle East”, according to a statement shared by the Wafa news agency.

Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), has warned that Israeli settler violence – backed by the Israeli authorities – is driving Palestinians from their homes across the occupied West Bank.

“The same violence and impunity we saw in Gaza is dispossessing whole communities in the West Bank,” Egeland said in a statement, noting that violence in the West Bank has been largely eclipsed by the situation in Gaza.

He noted that nearly 200 Palestinians have been reported killed since January while another 3,200 have been injured by Israeli troops and settlers.

Military operations have also pushed more than 30,000 Palestinians out of their homes in the Jenin, Nur Shams and Tulkarem refugee camps, Egeland added.

“Humanitarians cannot even reach parts of Jenin and Tulkarem camps to verify the devastation, and communities are not allowed to return,” said Egeland. “Restrictions and intimidation are silencing the truth about what is happening.”