Benjamin Netanyahu has said he has ordered the Israeli army to seize control of 70% of the Gaza Strip, a move that would breach the existing ceasefire and deepen the humanitarian crisis in the territory. Speaking at a conference in an occupied West Bank settlement, the Israeli prime minister said: “We are currently squeezing Hamas. We now control 60% of the territory in the strip. You know, we were at 50, we moved to 60. My directive is to move to … 70%.”
Under the US-brokered ceasefire agreed in October, Israeli forces withdrew to a demarcation line giving Israel direct control of 53% of the enclave. Since then, the army has steadily advanced westward into Hamas-controlled areas and declared an expanding no man’s land, within which it claims the right to decide who can enter and to open fire on perceived threats. Israeli-backed militias have also played a growing role, telling residents along the ceasefire line to vacate their homes or shelters.
Since the truce began, Israeli forces have continued to fire on Palestinians within range of the “yellow line” and have carried out airstrikes deeper into western Gaza, killing more than 900 Palestinians. Expanding military control to 70% of the strip would leave the 2.2 million Palestinian residents crammed into less than a third of their original territory, which was already one of the most densely populated places on earth. Muhammad Shehada, a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said: “The conditions there are already appalling. It is the single most overcrowded place on the face of the planet. So it would be a death sentence for a lot of people who physically have no place to go.”
The defence minister, Israel Katz, said on Wednesday that the government’s ultimate aim was for large numbers of Palestinians to leave Gaza through what he called “voluntary migration”. Human rights activists describe the policy as a long-term plan for ethnic cleansing by making living conditions inside Gaza intolerable. Netanyahu’s order also contradicts the Trump peace plan, which set out a temporary “yellow line” dividing Gaza and stated: “No one will be forced to leave Gaza, and those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return.”
Shehada said Netanyahu’s announcement effectively renders the entire Trump framework for Gaza null and void. An Israeli army spokesperson referred a request for comment on the 70% threat “to the political echelon”. A UN briefing on Sunday for humanitarian agencies recorded recent Israeli tank advances near Jabalia and east of Khan Younis, as well as increased activity by Israeli-backed anti-Hamas militias, including one led by a Gaza warlord, Ashraf al-Mansi, which had advanced westwards from the yellow line.
