16/10 • GAZA CEASEFIRE

Families are breathing a little easier as hostages and prisoners are exchanged, and convoys of aid edge into devastated neighbourhoods. Yet beneath the cautious relief runs a current of grief and fear. A true peace remains elusive.

Even amid the truce, lives have again been lost. Reports from Al Ahli Anglican Hospital tell of new casualties arriving under the banner of ceasefire, a painful reminder that ending a war on paper does not instantly end suffering. Medical teams, exhausted but faithful, continue to tend the wounded and bury the dead. As one clinician said in a video from the hospital courtyard, “We are still counting bodies. We are still waiting for peace to mean something real.”

In a joint statement, the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem—including Archbishop Hosam Naoum of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem—welcomed the ceasefire and the release of captives, calling this “the first stage” of a process that must lead to reconciliation and justice. Citing Psalm 46, they urge restraint, humanitarian relief, and an end to occupation, reminding the world that “our region has suffered long enough to contemplate otherwise.”

Analysts warn that the ceasefire may freeze the frontlines but not resolve the deeper fractures—displacement, political exclusion, and competing claims of sovereignty. Brookings experts note that unless these structural issues are addressed, the ceasefire is more a pause than a breakthrough.

Meanwhile, scholars like Bruce Jentleson caution that past ceasefires have created “unrealistic expectations” and that this one may suffer unless accountability is real and institutions are rebuilt.

Urgent humanitarian needs remain. The UN says Gaza requires a massive boost in emergency aid. While hundreds of aid trucks have been cleared, thousands more tons of food, medical supplies, fuel and shelter materials remain stalled. The scale of devastation including, housing, infrastructure, water and sanitation systems, means reconstruction must begin now, or conditions will only worsen.

We are not yet close to peace. But we stand at the threshold of possibility, one that demands courage, humility, and steadfast compassion.

Photo: Dr Suhaila Tarazi of Al Ahli Hospital stands inside a ruined office.