How Trump's ceasefires are failing to stop Middle East violence
Why this matters: local context for readers following news across Pakistan and the region.
Residents of Gaza, south Lebanon, northern Israel and Kuwait were all under fire this week despite United States-arranged ceasefires supposedly in force in their regions. Israeli airstrikes hit Gaza and Lebanon, with Israeli forces still actively deployed in both places. Hezbollah rockets struck northern Israel, and Iranian attacks hit Kuwait’s international airport. The continued violence prompted US President Donald Trump to comment on Wednesday that ceasefires in the Middle East involved “shooting in a more moderate manner” rather than a total halt in fighting. Three truces his administration has negotiated were meant to have stopped the warfare. But while major fighting has greatly reduced, munitions are still falling and people still dying. This is how the ceasefires — and ongoing fighting — are playing out: What’s happening with the ceasefire in Gaza? The US brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on October 10, 2025, ending major warfare. The ceasefire deal involved a halt to all fighting, Hamas releasing all its remaining hostages in Gaza, Israel freeing Palestinian prisoners, a phased Israeli withdrawal, ramped-up aid and the opening of a crossing into Egypt. A Trump plan to build out the ceasefire was meant to involve agreements on disarming Hamas, a new Gaza government without the group’s involvement, reconstruction of Gaza and a complete Israeli withdrawal. Palestinians clear debris at the site of an Israeli strike on a house whose residents were warned to evacuate before the attack, in Zawaida, central Gaza Strip on June 5, 2026. — AFP However, while all hostages were released, the amount of aid reaching Gaza has not substantially increased. Hamas has not agreed to disarm. Reconstruction has not begun, and Israel has expanded its control of the territory. Israeli airstrikes on Gaza have continued, killing more than 900 Palestinians since the truce, including nine on Thursday. Sporadic Palestinian attacks have killed four Israeli soldiers in Gaza.