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In recent days, the IDF has been eliminating an average of three to four suspected terrorists in Gaza daily, identifying them as Hamas operatives planting explosives near the border. The terror group has not responded, seemingly content with the de facto cease-fire Israel has granted it — after at least two weeks without hostages being released, allowing Hamas to bolster its positions deeper inside the Strip.
Israel has effectively reached the limit of its sanctions package, rolling back almost all humanitarian concessions, except for allowing around 50 wounded and sick Palestinians to exit Gaza daily via the Rafah crossing into Egypt for medical treatment. Security officials are monitoring the evacuees to ensure senior Hamas commanders are not among them but Israel sees an overall benefit in more Gazans leaving, even if in limited numbers.
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Footage of Gaza Strip amid cease-fire
Other measures that were reportedly reversed include what officials call political spin. For example, Energy Minister Eli Cohen announced earlier this week that Israel had cut power to Deir al-Balah, but the affected line only supplied a desalination plant — not electricity to Gaza itself.
As for water, three main pipelines remain operational, and the partial relocation of displaced residents from al-Mawasi back toward Gaza City has balanced consumption, preventing shortages. Gazans also rely on wells and agricultural activity has resumed in parts of the Strip.
The desalination facility in Deir al-Balah, which previously provided 15,000 liters (3,960 gallons) of water per day, was not seen as critical by Israeli officials, who say there is no imminent risk of widespread thirst.
However, UNICEF has warned that Gaza’s water crisis has reached "critical levels," saying that "only one in 10 people have access to clean drinking water." The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said that halting humanitarian aid is endangering lives after 17 months of war, with most of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents relying on assistance.
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The head of Gaza’s Bakery Owners Association, Abed al-Nasser al-Ajrami, said six of the 22 remaining bakeries in the Strip have shut down due to a lack of cooking gas.
The nine power lines from Israel that supplied Gaza before the war were destroyed — mostly by Hamas — eliminating the 120 megawatts the Palestinians purchased daily from Israel. Before the war, this provided about four hours of electricity per day, supplemented by diesel-powered generators and thousands of solar panels, some of which Hamas used to supply energy to its bunkers in Gaza City.
Some solar panels remain functional, as do generators, which are now Gaza’s main power source. As part of a previous deal, Israel allowed around 50 fuel and gas trucks into Gaza daily for a month and a half — a significant supply still under Hamas’s control.
"We don’t really know how Hamas distributed this fuel, how much they have left or what it's being used for," a security official said. "Some international estimates suggest it could last for weeks or even months."
Other security officials assessed Hamas’s gains from the cease-fire. "Every day of a cease-fire that Hamas uses to prepare for renewed fighting is like a month of preparation for us," one said. "Its control over civilian life is growing, with Ramadan meals funded by institutions like the Bank of Palestine, which serves as Hamas’s financial clearinghouse in Gaza. We shut down the border crossings but we didn’t destroy its stockpiles."