Israeli strikes destroy central Gaza homes despite truce
The central Gaza strikes show how the October truce is failing to create safety or reconstruction for displaced families.
In 30 seconds
- Residents said Israeli strikes on 12 June damaged Maghazi and Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.
- Residents said 10 to 15 Maghazi homes were no longer habitable after the attacks.
- The Israeli military has not publicly detailed the specific central Gaza strikes reviewed for this brief.
- Gaza's Health Ministry says Israeli operations have killed hundreds of Palestinians since the October 2025 truce.
How we got here
- 2023-10-07
Hamas-led attackers killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and took 251 hostages, according to Israeli authorities.
- 2023-11-24
A first temporary Gaza truce began, enabling hostage-prisoner exchanges and additional aid.
- 2023-12-01
The first temporary truce collapsed after both sides accused the other of violations.
- 2025-10-10
The US-backed Gaza ceasefire came into effect with Israeli withdrawal to agreed lines.
- 2025-11-17
United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803 endorsed the Gaza peace plan and authorized an International Stabilization Force.
Maghazi (a Palestinian refugee camp in central Gaza, established in 1949 in the Deir al-Balah Governorate) has repeatedly sheltered displaced families during the war. Deir al-Balah (a central Gaza city and governorate on the coastal road) became a major displacement and aid hub as fighting moved across the territory. The Gaza Strip (a 365-square-kilometre Palestinian coastal enclave) has been under severe wartime destruction since the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel and Israel's military campaign that followed. Hamas (the Palestinian Islamist movement governing Gaza before and during the war) remains central to ceasefire talks because the US-backed plan requires its disarmament. Nickolay Mladenov (a Bulgarian former UN Middle East envoy now overseeing the Gaza ceasefire framework) has become the public face of the stalled implementation process. United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803 (adopted on 17 November 2025) endorsed the Gaza peace plan and authorized an International Stabilization Force.
Background
The Gaza war began after Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which Israeli authorities say about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage. A first temporary pause started on 24 November 2023 and collapsed on 1 December 2023 after hostage-prisoner exchanges. The current ceasefire began on 10 October 2025 after a US-backed plan and was later endorsed by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803 on 17 November 2025. The plan linked Israeli withdrawals, Hamas disarmament, transitional Palestinian governance, an international stabilization force and reconstruction, but implementation has stalled.
The wider picture
Gaza remains a test of US leverage, Israeli security doctrine, Hamas's survival strategy and European credibility on international law. The ceasefire framework depends on a sequence few actors trust: Hamas must disarm, Israel must withdraw, international forces must deploy and donors must fund reconstruction. Each new strike makes that sequence politically harder.
Why now
The 12 June images are timely because they show fresh damage during a truce that is supposed to remain in force. They follow weeks of reporting that the ceasefire has stalled, Israeli operations have continued and reconstruction has not meaningfully begun.
What happens next
Watch for an Israeli military explanation of the 12 June central Gaza strikes, Gaza hospital or civil-defence casualty updates, UN humanitarian access reports, and any Board of Peace or mediator statement on whether reconstruction and withdrawal talks can restart.
What to do
Belgian readers should expect Gaza to remain active in EU and Belgian politics: humanitarian aid debates, university and civil-society campaigns, sanctions arguments and community-security concerns are likely to continue. For people donating or engaging politically, the practical issue is to rely on verified humanitarian organisations and distinguish Gaza-wide policy claims from unconfirmed strike details.
The Belgian angle
The effects split between Belgium's federal level and the EU level. Belgium's federal government handles recognition, sanctions, arms-export positions and consular policy, while EU institutions and member states determine whether broader tools such as the EU-Israel Association Agreement, settlement trade measures or humanitarian funding rules change. Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels may feel the issue through protests, universities and community relations, but those are political and social spillovers rather than distinct regional policy competences in this specific event.
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This story was assembled from verified evidence, with its sources and reasoning recorded as it was written.
This briefing was prepared with AI assistance and passed Belgium Impulse source, provenance and publication-quality checks. methodology.