Sami Shaban, like many Palestinian Americans, was skeptical that the most recent ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas would hold — or that it would end suffering in Gaza.
He hoped to be wrong. Then came the call from his father.
“I have some really bad news,” he told Shaban. “Sufyan was killed.”
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Sufyan — Shaban’s first cousin — along with Sufyan’s wife and three children, were among 11 people killed when Israeli tank fire struck their minibus Oct. 17 as they were returning to their neighborhood in Gaza City. The strike came a week after the ceasefire took effect.
“Days later, they were still finding and picking up pieces of the kids from the scene,” said Shaban, an attorney and former school board member in New Jersey’s Franklin Township. “It was horrible, this bombing.”
“There is this joy in thinking this may be coming to an end,” Shaban said. “And then it comes crashing down.”
The incident underscored the deep fear and unease that many Palestinian Americans feel after the U.S.-brokered cease-fire. The deal, announced Oct. 8, called for a halt to war in Gaza, the release of hostages and a surge in humanitarian aid.
While widescale military operations have halted, sporadic attacks continue, rattling an already fragile state of affairs. Israel has killed at least 87 Palestinians since the ceasefire began, according to the Gaza health ministry, and two Israeli soldiers were killed in southern Gaza.
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U.S. President Donald Trump walks after addressing the Knesset, amid a U.S.-brokered prisoner-hostage swap and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, October 13, 2025.
Aid deliveries to Gaza have increased but remain far below what was promised in the ceasefire agreement to address critical shortages of food, medicine and supplies, according to aid agencies.
Despite apparent ceasefire violations, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said in a visit to Israel this week that the plan was going “better than expected” and called for patience and optimism.
Relief but ‘no real peace’
The ceasefire took effect on October 10, two years after a Hamas attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, triggered the latest war. About 1,200 Israelis were killed and 250 were taken hostage in the attack, according to Israeli authorities.
Over the past two years, more than 68,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed, while thousands more are missing under rubble or were detained without charges, Gaza officials have stated.
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Sami Shaban at the Haraz coffeeshop, Oct 23, 2025, New Brunswick, NJ, United States.
Israeli Americans celebrated the return of 20 living hostages who had been held by Hamas in Gaza after the ceasefire and grieved as the bodies of deceased hostages were handed over.
The ceasefire also brought a measure of relief to New Jersey’s large Palestinian American community, where many have mourned loved ones killed in the conflict.
Still, many watch warily as the agreement is tested and suffering endures.
“We hold our breath with cautious hope,” the Palestinian American Community Center in Clifton, New Jersey, said in a statement. “Attacks continued. Israeli forces still occupy large portions of Gaza, and aid remains blocked. Families are still trapped in rubble and hunger. There is relief, yes, but no real peace yet.”
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There were some celebrations in the immediate aftermath of the ceasefire, but Palestinians are still searching for their loved ones under rubble, without proper equipment. They are receiving bodies of Palestinian detainees that rights groups say show signs of torture and execution.
Under the first phase of the ceasefire, Israel — which controls Gaza’s borders — agreed to let in 600 trucks of aid per day. But on average, fewer than a hundred trucks have entered Gaza per day, UN data shows.
Fares Abu Fares, aid manager for the charity HEAL Palestine, called it a “drop of water in the ocean” compared to what is needed.
“Between yesterday and today, we got a shipment of formula and diapers, about 20,000 each,” said Abu Fares, a Paterson, New Jersey, resident who worked on the ground in Gaza. “It will be gone in a couple of days. The need is a lot. Tents — we had them for a year, and they didn’t let us bring them in. For a year we’ve been fighting to bring them in. Finally, they’re allowing it.”
Fares Abu Fares, an aid manager for Heal Palestine in Gaza, spoke at a memorial dedication for Gaza in Clifton on Oct. 10, 2025. The dedication took place at a community garden behind the Palestinian American Community Center.
Like food and medicine, tents are also a critical need as 90% of homes are damaged or destroyed, according to the UN. Many are living in makeshift shelters made of nylon and sheets or in damaged tents.
The lack of aid has proven fatal. Last winter, at least seven babies died from hypothermia due to the cold, the UN reported. Over 460 people have died from starvation and malnutrition, the agency reported.
“The only thing that got better, to be honest, is less killing, thank God,” Abu Fares said. “It’s not a normal life. It’s never going to be a normal life for years and years to come.”
The ‘yellow line’
When the Shaban family was killed, Israeli authorities said it was because their vehicle allegedly crossed what they call the “yellow line.”
Under the cease-fire, families were allowed to return to just under half of the territory in the Gaza Strip. The other part, behind the “yellow line,” remains off limits. The line lacks clear boundaries, say critics, and has been a source of confusion and danger. Palestinians who crossed or approached it have come under fire.
Shaban said he could not rest after hearing his relatives had been killed. Born in the United States, he often visited family in Gaza. He and Sufyan, two years apart in age, played soccer together and enjoyed eating sweets as children. His cousin, he said, was a “very kind, patient and funny guy.”
The strike that killed his 44-year-old cousin also ended the life of Sufyan’s wife, Samar Mohammed Nasser, 35, and their children: Nesma, 12, Karam, 10, and Anas, 8. The others killed in the vehicle were Sufyan’s in-laws.
One harrowing photo from the scene where they were killed showed a boy face down on the ground, his torso detached from his lower body.
“It made me so upset and so heartbroken that this is what humanity is — that this is happening and there is no outrage,” Shaban said.
Kids with dreams
The Trump administration expressed optimism about the ceasefire, now in its first phase. But it’s unclear how it will unfold. The 20-point plan demands the disarmament of Hamas, Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a path toward a Palestinian state. Hamas has said it will not disarm, while Israeli leaders say they will not recognize a Palestinian state.
Abu Fares did not have a good feeling.
“I’m skeptical, to be honest,” Abu Fares said, “that any second the whole thing is going to start over again. The nightmare is going to continue.”
He said action and accountability, including ending unconditional support to Israel, was needed.
“Without pressure from lawmakers,” Abu Fares said, “there isn’t going to be any peace. We need to end this madness. We are not numbers. We are human beings. We are families. We are kids. Kids with dreams.”
Shaban, too, worries about the fate of Gaza. Most homes, schools and hospitals lie in ruins. Many water and power plants were destroyed. Agricultural land is contaminated with chemicals from bombings. Many Palestinians suffer physical ailments and mental health issues linked to the war.
“Peace is not only possible, it is necessary,” Shaban said. “Our government has facilitated the starvation and horror. The ceasefire is a great first step, but it means nothing if we don’t enforce it.”
Peace also requires addressing problems that existed before the war, Shaban said. Israel has prevented Gaza’s residents from traveling outside the crowded 141-square-mile territory, with narrow exceptions. Israel and Egypt also oversaw a land, sea, and air blockade that choked the flow of goods and the economy.
“This is a watershed moment,” he said. “People need to live the freedom we enjoy as Americans. The same way we want to live, we should help them to be able to live.”
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: New Jersey man mourns relatives killed in Gaza despite ceasefire
