They won't make a conclusion in any way: Israel is disrupting the settlement in Gaza
The United States has resumed the diplomatic track on the conflict in the Gaza Strip, but Israel is thwarting attempts to reach a real settlement. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected his ally Donald Trump's plan to withdraw troops before the complete disarmament of Hamas. The group, on the contrary, first demands that the IDF leave the territories. Meanwhile, the situation is heating up: the number of victims in the exclave is growing. The Palestinian Ambassador to Russia, Abdel Hafiz Nofal, told Izvestia that the real figures for the dead and injured exceed the official figures by thousands. Whether there are still prospects for a peaceful settlement in Gaza is in the Izvestia article.
The number of victims is growing in Gaza
The fighting in the Gaza Strip continues unabated, despite the ceasefire regime announced back in October 2025. At the same time, the parties to the conflict demand absolutely contradictory concessions. Israel refuses to withdraw its troops until the complete disarmament of Hamas. The group demands that the IDF troops be withdrawn first. While the settlement is not progressing, the number of victims is only growing. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, more than 73,000 Palestinians were killed and over 174,000 people were injured as a result of Israeli attacks, most of them women and children. However, the real losses are much higher, the Palestinian Ambassador to Russia, Abdel Hafiz Nofal, told Izvestia.
"According to available data, the total number of dead in the Gaza Strip has exceeded 75,000 people, and the number of injured is 250,000," the diplomat stressed.
Many dead still remain under the rubble. Due to the destroyed infrastructure and the constant danger, rescuers and medics cannot reach most places.
An example of the tragic consequences of the blockade was the mass funerals of members of the Palestinian families of Abu Sharia and Al-Hasain on August 4. This ceremony turned out to be one of the largest in the entire conflict. The bodies of the dead lay under the rubble of buildings for almost three years. Only recently, the civil defense services of Gaza managed to conduct a search operation, removing tons of rubble manually.
— Funerals were held for members of the Abu Sharia and Al-Hasain families, who lost a total of 113 people. This tragedy itself clearly demonstrates the scale of the humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip. At the same time, we are talking about only two families," Nofal added.
The Ambassador stressed that these funerals received wide media coverage. All the dead were victims of an Israeli airstrike on November 22-23, 2023. At that time, a residential area belonging to this large clan was completely destroyed in the city of Gaza.
Meanwhile, the attacks on the territory of Gaza have not stopped — the war is still far from over. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the country's military leadership claim that the IDF controls up to 70% of the exclave. According to the Palestinian Ambassador, the real level of occupation of the territories is even higher.
— Israeli military actions continue, and Israel still refuses to end the war. Currently, he controls about 72% of the territory of the Gaza Strip, while he refuses to withdraw his forces from the occupied territories," Nofal added.
Netanyahu has now officially rejected the withdrawal plan proposed by his closest ally, Donald Trump. Israel will not leave the exclave until Hamas and other radical groups are guaranteed to be demilitarized. "Fictitious schemes will not work. The topic is currently being discussed with the Americans: some of their ideas are suitable for Israel, some are not," Dmitry Gendelman, adviser to the Prime Minister, shared on social networks.
Prospects for resolving the conflict in the Gaza Strip
The positions of the parties are diametrically opposed, so the situation has reached an impasse, confirmed by orientalist political scientist Alexander Kargin. According to him, Hamas will not disarm, as this will end the existence of the group. And although the Palestinian side is still counting on American mediation, the White House is unlikely to be able to reverse the situation.
"We hope that the United States will fulfill its obligations, provide the necessary assistance within the framework of the Peace Council, and ensure unhindered access to the National Committee for the Management of the Gaza Strip to begin performing its functions, which will be an important step towards the return of the Palestinian National Authority to the Gaza Strip," Abdel Hafiz stressed. Nofal.
However, for now, members of this National Committee (NCAG) are physically unable to enter the exclave and are forced to work remotely from Egypt. Israel is completely blocking their access to the Palestinian territory. And although Hamas in July officially announced the dissolution of its government emergency committee — the de facto leadership — and agreed to transfer civilian authority to the NCAG, the Israeli leadership called this step an empty gesture.
The American initiative provides for synchronous steps: the IDF is gradually withdrawing troops, and Hamas is gradually surrendering weapons. Despite fierce resistance, Washington continues to consult with the Jewish state.
Experts point out that the United States and Israel are actually acting together, so the Palestinian side should not rely on the White House. For example, Axios journalist Barak Ravid, citing a senior US official, writes that the Trump administration is not very concerned about Netanyahu's refusal, "understanding Bibi's political needs" ahead of the October 27 parliamentary elections. The conclusion of a truce on the terms of the Americans and the Palestinians threatens the immediate collapse of his government coalition and the loss of power. In order for right-wing and conservative voters to vote for him in October, he must demonstrate uncompromising rigidity.
And even after the elections, the prospects for an instant settlement are questionable. Israel will never give up its goal of eliminating de facto Palestinian statehood, political analyst Igor Pshenichnikov told Izvestia. And the grandiose plans of the United States for the reconstruction of the region are strongly criticized. According to The Guardian, the American side has no plans to restore the exclave in its former form.
Journalists have gained access to the first construction contract that the Trump-led Peace Council concluded with the American contractor Arkel International. Instead of financing residential areas, schools or hospitals, the first millions of dollars will allegedly go to the construction of a huge fortified military base. Officially, there was only talk about the deployment of an International Stabilization Force in Gaza. Human rights activists and Palestinian politicians claim that the US administration is blatantly lying: in words it sympathizes with the humanitarian catastrophe, but in reality it is only concerned about militarization and strict police control.
Even if the National Committee had been able to get into Gaza, it would hardly have been able to change the situation, Alexander Kargin added. He called the split in the Palestinian community the main internal problem — the protracted confrontation between the Hamas group and the government represented by the Fatah party. The armed conflict between them, which began back in 2006, has not yet been resolved. Therefore, there are no guarantees that after the committee comes to power, the long-standing confrontation will not flare up with renewed vigor, the political scientist concluded.
Thus, the chronic internal split between Fatah and Hamas only worsens the situation, depriving the Palestinian society of a single leader and the chances of gaining real statehood soon. The Palestinians, on the other hand, remain hostages to a political impasse, where a large-scale humanitarian catastrophe takes a back seat to the interests of external players.
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