Ongoing Struggles in Gaza Amidst Shifting Global Focus to Iran

Sat Mar 28 2026 20:41:10 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

As the world turns its attention to tensions involving Iran, residents of Gaza face increasing hardships, including skyrocketing prices and food shortages post-ceasefire.

Nearly six months after a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, residents are grappling with soaring prices and sporadic supplies due to the ongoing conflict involving Iran. Amidst increasing skepticism about the peace process, a Palestine official suggests Hamas is likely to reject proposed disarmament plans. Meanwhile, international efforts, including a US-led Board of Peace, struggle to deliver immediate aid and restructuring for the war-torn area.

Nearly six months after a fragile ceasefire came into force in Gaza, Palestinians in this war-torn territory are still struggling.

In the markets, there are again shortages of some goods and rising prices – with merchants saying supplies brought in from Israel have been disrupted by the new war in the region.

What does the war between Iran and Israel have to do with us? Prices have doubled here. Goods aren't coming in like before, says a shopper, Hassan Faqawi, despairingly. In this situation, the whole world is focused on Iran, America and Israel, and Gaza is forgotten.

While world attention has turned to the Iran conflict, there is increasing uncertainty about what happens in Gaza at a crucial stage in President Trump's 20-point peace plan, which halted the fighting in October last year.

In the past week at the UN Security Council, the High Representative for Gaza on the US-led Board of Peace, Nickolay Mladenov, laid out a detailed plan for Palestinian armed groups to decommission their weapons - linking compliance to the start of reconstruction.

But a Palestinian official familiar with Hamas affairs told the BBC it was likely that Hamas, whose October 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war, would reject the proposals. That raises the prospect of a return to a full-force military offensive, with Israel's Prime Minister demanding that Hamas disarms either the easy way or the hard way.

Heavy rain in recent weeks caused sewage systems to overflow in crowded tent camps. Reconstruction materials are not yet allowed by Israel to enter, on the grounds that they could be used by Hamas to build tunnels and weaponry. Despite a ceasefire, Israeli air strikes in Gaza have continued. Dozens of Palestinians – including children – have been killed since the outbreak of the Iran war at the end of February.

Hamas has publicly welcomed the creation of a new technocratic committee to temporarily run Gaza but is reasserting control with new police directors and military-style checkpoints. Gazans express frustration with the current situation.

While the UN envoy remains hopeful about future disarmament and reconstruction efforts, many Palestinians are increasingly skeptical about the Trump peace plan, fearing it could falter amid shifting international focus.