The newly declared truce in Gaza has been met with cautious relief by a people who have endured years of relentless devastation. After endless nights under bombardment and months of starvation, the silence of the skies feels almost surreal. Yet, this fragile calm must not be mistaken for peace. Real peace demands justice, accountability, and the end of an oppressive system that has stripped an entire population of their most basic rights.

For nearly two decades, Gaza has been suffocated under a blockade that has turned daily life into a struggle for survival. Families have faced famine, displacement, and grief in a land reduced to ruins. This genocidal war has not only destroyed homes and hospitals but has sought to break the very spirit of a people whose only demand is to live with dignity. To speak of reconstruction without confronting the causes of this suffering, the occupation, the apartheid-like restrictions, and the repeated violations of international law, is to condemn Gaza to repeat its pain.

If this truce is to mean anything, it must pave the way for genuine accountability. Those responsible for years of collective punishment must be held to account, and the blockade must finally end. True peace will not come from silence or negotiation tables that ignore justice. It will come when freedom replaces oppression, when aid is no longer conditional, and when the people of Gaza can rebuild their lives not in fear, but in hope.