'We are dying in silence' — Israel torments Palestinians as focus shifts from Gaza to Iran war

Until recently, Israel's genocide in Gaza, its suspension by Tel Aviv amid breached truce, and the operational details of the Board of Peace dominated global discussions and media coverage.

However, with the US and Israel jointly conducting a large-scale war on Iran, focus on events in Gaza and the broader political question regarding Palestine’s statehood appears to be fading into obscurity.

"The biggest change I have noticed in Gaza since the war in Iran began is the silent death. Since October 2025, we have been dying, but now there is no news coverage of our deaths. Because of this war, we are dying in silence," Mohammed Abu Sidu, a 33-year-old Gaza-based architect, tells TRT World.

"The crossings are closed, prices are soaring, and we are approaching Eid. Yet no one can afford their basic needs. There is no work and no future," Abu Sidu says.

The Palestinian architect laments the dire political situation, noting that after two years of Israeli genocide that left hundreds of thousands of Palestinians dead, their properties flattened, and millions uprooted, progress remains elusive and international efforts have failed.

"Politically, I believe we are in a state of clinical death. I do not think we will achieve any political outcome after two years of genocide — just empty talk from what is called the global peace council, nothing more. We are weak because everyone has failed to help us."

Since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran and Tehran's retaliation that includes targeting Israel, US bases in the Gulf region, energy infrastructure in the Middle East and beyond, the Gaza peace plan remains stalled amidst shifting regional priorities.

US President Donald Trump may have envisioned a quick, decisive win following February 28 attacks on Iran but it has escalated into an active state-on-state war with missile exchanges, Iranian retaliation on Gulf shipping, threats to the Strait of Hormuz, oil price spikes, and direct US troop involvement that carries massive global economic risks.

Gaza, on the other hand, has been in a fragile ceasefire since October 2025, brokered under the Trump administration.

The truce, although breached daily by Israeli forces, resulted in the creation of the Board of Peace, which is supposed to oversee Gaza governance, reconstruction, a stabilisation force, and distribute billions in pledged aid, ranging from $7–16 billion.

Funding for Gaza peace efforts

According to Zaha Hassan, a Palestinian human rights lawyer and a senior fellow at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Gulf nations that pledged billions of dollars for the Gaza peace plan may be questioning whether the money they pledged is worth it, a doubt similar to their security partnership with the US as they reel under Iranian retaliatory attacks. 

"They must be questioning whether their support for a Board billed as a more nimble peace building institution was money well spent, given that they are dodging missiles from Iran following a war launched by the US and Israel," Hassan tells TRT World.

Since the ceasefire took place in October 2025, Israel has committed hundreds of violations in Gaza, killing at least 670 Palestinians in the enclave it has blockaded from land, air and sea since 2005.

On Tuesday, Israel bombed a vehicle in the western area of Khan Younis, south of the enclave, killing three people, including a child, and wounding 12 other people. Two days ago, Israel killed 12 people in Gaza, including nine police officers in one strike.

Palestinian officials say at least 40 people have been killed by Israel since the US and Israel launched joint attacks on Iran at the end of February, accusing Israel of exploiting the war with Iran to evade its obligations under Gaza peace plan.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently voiced concerns over selective global responses to humanitarian crises, notably in Gaza.

"The suffering of orphaned Palestinian and Syrian children drew less attention than a lone penguin due to the virtual world’s fake conscience," he said.

On Monday, top Russian diplomat Sergey Lavrov also voiced his frustration, saying the US-Israeli war on Iran was overshadowing focus on Palestine.

Lavrov said that before the US and Israeli attacks on Iran, discussions on Middle East issues primarily focused on Palestine.

"Now everyone is talking about a crisis, a conflict in the Middle East, but they are not referring to Palestine at all. Palestine is being conveniently forgotten," he warned.

Plans for Greater Israel

According to Nizar Farsakh, who teaches international relations at George Washington University and a former adviser to Palestine's President Mahmoud Abbas, the ongoing US-Israel war on Iran will prolong Gaza's suffering.

"The suffering of the Gazans and the escalation of land grabs and settler attacks will be prolonged," he tells TRT World. 

"Israel will have the ability to commit more egregious crimes while the world is focused on Iran. There will be no real pressure to let aid in or to stop attacks," Farsakh says. 

Hassan of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace notes that Israel never intended to end the genocide in Gaza and aimed to undermine the peace efforts of the Board of Peace.

"The Iran war didn't put the Gaza plan on hold. It never started and likely never would have moved forward as authorised by the UN Security Council," she says. 

"Israeli attacks on Palestinians have continued since the so-called plan was launched —more than 600 have been killed. Humanitarian aid continues to be restricted, with Israel creating an entirely new aid delivery system that will allow for only vetted Palestinians to receive assistance or reconstruction support."

She says Israel didn't have intentions to make any progress "toward better circumstances for Palestinians," stressing "Israel is using the fog of war with Iran to escalate its plans for a Greater Israel."

Ahmed Almallahi contributed to this report.