Breaking the Silence is an Israeli veterans' organization aimed at raising awareness to the dire consequences of prolonged military occupation.
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As early as the first days of the war, the IDF has sporadically restricted food access in Gaza, deliberately limiting what goes in and when. By March 2, 2025, this escalated into a total siege. For 11 weeks, no food was allowed in.
“You detect a threat or something — you shoot”
In total, two-thirds of the buildings in the Strip were destroyed or damaged—174,000 out of approximately 250,000 structures. Shuja’iyya, the large eastern neighborhood of Gaza, was wiped off the map. The same goes for Rafah city.
This week, we saw starving people walk for miles, herded into overcrowded pens, and then met with gunfire once chaos inevitably erupted. This is not a humanitarian aid distribution plan—it’s aid being used as a weapon of war and ethnic cleansing>>
Hostage families are outraged at the decision. Even IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir told ministers, “Keep in mind, we may lose the hostages,” but far-right minister Smotrich said the cabinet decision means Israel won’t retreat from any land conquered, even in exchange for hostages. 
The soldiers’ testimonies describe the annihilation of what once stood in this area — homes, schools, and agricultural lands — which covered 16% of the entire strip. With Rafah included, we’re now looking at reducing at least another 20% of the strip to a complete wasteland.
Last week, another partner of ours, @btselem researcher Naser Nawaj’ah, was also assaulted in Susiya. Police were seen on video letting the assailants escape. At least one assailant was also identified by activists on Monday night as one of the settlers who assaulted Hamdan.
In Israel, there is a deep fear of confronting this reality. Soldiers are sent to maintain the occupation, then silenced when they speak out about what they did. They are not allowed to talk about the immorality, violence, or oppression. But burying the truth doesn’t erase it.
A. We were denied entry for political reasons. While the army and police waved the magic wand of “security concerns” at us, settlers were free to come and go as they like. Those who joined us saw something fundamental about the occupation: it’s not about security.
Demolitions in Masafer Yatta on Monday:
This deal is also clearly worse for both sides than the previous ceasefire deal, which fell apart through mutual violation accusations. That one lasted a week, during which over 100 hostages were released. Returning to war ensures the next deal will be signed on even worse terms.
"Before the first ceasefire they told us we were going in [to Gaza] to take down a house [...] they said, ‘We want to make a big boom before the ceasefire.’ Like that, those were the words the officer used, and it made everyone mad."
The deal that was eventually signed is almost identical to one proposed by the US nearly 8 months ago. One of the deal’s appendices even calls it "The May 27th Agreement." But it's not really the same deal. Countless innocents have been killed since May. That includes hostages.