Three Years of War, One Year Since Ceasefire: Gaza’s Families Are Still Waiting to Rebuild
Nearly three years since the war in Gaza began, the ceasefire headlines from October 2025 stand in stark contrast with life for civilians in Gaza today. Families are still caught between continued violence and a recovery that has barely begun. Airstrikes and other attacks continue to kill and injure civilians, hundreds of thousands of people lack safe and adequate housing, and restrictions on critical supplies and equipment prevent families and communities from rebuilding.
Last year’s ceasefire increased the flow of some humanitarian assistance and availability of food and other basic supplies. But the conditions needed for a dignified life remain unmet. Around 1.4 million people, two-thirds of the population, still face crisis (or worse) levels of acute food insecurity, and families are still living in tents, makeshift shelters, and badly damaged buildings. Critical medical supplies are scarce, while essential materials needed to repair homes, restore water systems, revive agriculture, and get businesses running again are still restricted.
The collapse of a war-damaged residential building in Gaza City earlier this month, killing 21 people, including children, exposed another growing danger. Families with nowhere safer to go are living in structures weakened by years of bombardment amid continued danger posed by unexploded ordnance. An estimated 2,000 buildings are at risk of collapse, raising fears of further tragedy as winter approaches.
Prosper Global (formerly Mercy Corps) Country Director for Palestine, Nicole Hark said:
“Three years into this crisis and nearly a year after a ceasefire was announced, people in Gaza should not be choosing between a tent and a building that could collapse around them. A ceasefire must mean more than a reduction in large-scale fighting. It must create conditions for people to truly be safe and begin rebuilding their lives.
“We cannot measure progress only by how many trucks or goods enter Gaza. The real measure of the ceasefire is what it allows people to do. Can a family repair their home? Can parents earn an income and put nutritious food on the table? Can a farmer return to their land? Can a business reopen? Can children begin to imagine a future beyond displacement and war?
“Keeping people alive cannot be the limit of ambition. We must keep meeting Gazan’s urgent needs, but no one in Gaza should have to settle for survival. They need the tools and opportunities to shape what comes next: to rebuild their homes, restore their livelihoods, revive their businesses, and get farms running again. After three years of war, recovery cannot be something promised for the future. It needs to begin now.”
Building on two decades of economic programming and humanitarian response, since October 2023, Prosper Global, formerly Mercy Corps, and our local partners have reached over 400,000 people in Gaza with emergency support - including food, cash, hygiene supplies, clean water, shelter kits, emergency livelihoods assistance, and psychosocial support. We are currently scaling cash, livelihoods, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) activities to support additional vulnerable families across the Gaza Strip, while Gaza Sky Geeks continues to help young people build digital skills and access income and employment opportunities in the tech sector.
For more information, please contact:
- Milena Murr, Senior Manager Media and Communications, Middle East and Europe at mmurr@mercycorps.org
- Kyle DeGraw, Director of Media and Communications for Europe at kdegraw@mercycorps.org
- Our full media team is reachable at allmediarelations@mercycorps.org