981 Palestinians Killed Since Ceasefire, Rock Climbers Blocked as Nakba Continues
Eight months after a ceasefire deal was brokered, Israeli military operations have killed 981 Palestinians in Gaza, while in the West Bank, Palestinian athletes are being blocked from rock climbing by expanding Israeli settlements — a daily reality of life under occupation.
Since the ceasefire agreement took effect in October 2025, at least 981 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, pushing the total death toll since October 7, 2023, to 72,991 [169891][169837]. The deal, which promised an immediate end to hostilities and unlimited humanitarian aid, has failed to stop the killing, with victims reported every day [169837].
In the occupied West Bank, Palestinian rock climbers face a different but equally crushing barrier: the expansion of Israeli settlements. The sport is booming worldwide, but Palestinian climbers report that routes once open are now blocked or located inside settlement boundaries, where Palestinians are not allowed to enter [170075]. “We have the rocks, but we cannot reach them,” one climber said, reflecting a broader conflict over land and movement [170075].
The situation is part of a larger pattern that Palestinian officials describe as a continuation of the Nakba — the mass displacement of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Ahmad Abu Holi, a senior Palestinian official, told Turkish state news agency Anadolu that his people “cannot be broken, despite all impossible conditions, including starvation, thirst, deprivation of education and systematic attacks” [148811]. This year, Palestinians marked the 78th anniversary of the Nakba under the theme “We will not leave. Our roots are deeper than your destruction,” as ongoing war and displacement in Gaza and the West Bank fuel fresh fears of forced expulsion [149344].
A United Nations investigation has confirmed that Palestinian civilians are suffering severe human rights abuses. The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry found that in the occupied West Bank, Palestinians face violence from Israeli settlers, while in Gaza, forces linked to Hamas have carried out executions and arbitrary punishment [169123]. The commission described the violations as “grave” and noted that civilians are being “systematically and deliberately” subjected to severe rights abuses [168938].
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority is in “survival mode,” according to Finance Minister Estephan Salameh. He warned that Israel’s refusal to transfer customs taxes collected on behalf of the Authority — funds it is legally required to hand over — risks triggering a collapse of education, health care, and security sectors in the West Bank [169842].