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Wednesday, 17 December 2025

Fire still raining down on Gaza

Lorenzo Maria Pacini | Strategic Culture Foundation

Trump's elusive peace deal was an excellent ploy to quietly continue with the final occupation plan.

Bomb after bomb

There is no peace for Gaza. Trump's elusive peace plan - or should we say his gigantic real estate plan to make money off the suffering of the people? - was an excellent ploy to quietly continue with the final occupation plan.

The occupation has convinced international public opinion that the violence in Gaza has ceased, when in reality entire families continue to be wiped out in total silence. The world remains silent, perhaps only because something called a "truce" has been proclaimed, an excellent move of infowarfare.

What cannot be seen from the outside is that, day after day, the Israeli army is expanding its grip on the territory of Gaza. It advances slowly, taking over a street, then a neighborhood, then entire areas — silently redrawing the map while the international community celebrates a fictitious calm. The war is not over; it has simply taken on another form: from bombing to silent expansion, from air strikes to creeping occupation.

At the same time, the world fails to notice that a false appearance of normality is being constructed in Gaza: sweets, chocolate, and electronic goods enter freely, as if people wanted the superfluous, while basic goods such as meat, eggs, and medicines are systematically blocked.

The most basic necessities have become rare and precious commodities, and when they do appear, they are sold at unsustainable prices. Traders raise the prices of essentials — medicines, meat — because availability is minimal. Israel continues to deceive the world, and the world continues to be easily deceived. Meanwhile, bombs continue to fall, leaving Gazans in a state of endless war, not only conventional but also psychological, because anything can happen at any time. And this has been "normal" for them for decades.

Israel uses a well-known strategy, tried and tested over the years: it violates the ceasefire, bombs as it pleases, then announces the return of the truce. A unilateral, violent and unpunished act. This now recognizable pattern has a devastating effect on Palestinian communities and constitutes a clear abuse of international humanitarian law.

According to the rules of war, a truce should represent an effective and verifiable suspension of hostilities, aimed at protecting civilians, allowing humanitarian aid to enter, and preventing further loss of life. However, Israel's interpretation of the term seems to be purely instrumental. Every time the army conducts "targeted operations" during the truce — striking densely populated neighborhoods, advancing with armored vehicles, or shifting the boundaries of controlled areas — the truce is effectively violated. Yet, at the end of the attacks, it is announced that the ceasefire has 'returned' or "remains in force," as if nothing had happened.

This dynamic renders the very notion of a truce meaningless and undermines the foundations of international humanitarian law, which requires good faith, transparency, and respect for agreed conditions. Declaring the return of the truce after repeatedly breaking it is not only a formal violation, but a strategy that allows the occupation to operate with total impunity, while the international community remains paralyzed by ambiguous and contradictory narratives.

And it is precisely in the realm of narrative that infowarfare comes into play. Presenting bombings and advances as "limited incidents," claiming that the truce is still in force despite the explosionsand spreading the idea that the situation is under control serves to construct a distorted image of reality. The goal is twofold: on the one hand, to avoid international pressure and formal accusations of violating the truce; on the other, to shape global perception, pushing the media and governments to see stability where destruction reigns.

This manipulation of information is not an accessory element, but an integral part of military strategy. Infowarfare allows operations on the ground to continue while maintaining an acceptable diplomatic appearance. In this way, the use of the truce becomes a narrative tool rather than a mechanism for protecting civilians. This is where the most serious abuse occurs: the transformation of the language of humanitarian law into a rhetorical weapon that masks violence rather than limiting it.

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