Netanyahu orders IDF to expand control of Gaza, initial target 70%
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today that he has instructed the Israel Defense Forces to expand control of the Gaza Strip, with an initial target of 70% of the Palestinian territory. Residents' living space has been squeezed into a narrow strip of land along the coast.
According to Reuters, after the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked southern Israel in 2023, Israel launched a two-year military offensive that reduced the Gaza Strip to rubble. It is estimated that Israel currently controls 64% of Gaza.
Under a ceasefire agreement brokered by the United States last October, Israeli forces were supposed to withdraw to a "yellow line." On military maps, this yellow line gave Israel control of about 53% of Gaza, with the rest held by Hamas.
However, the ceasefire did not end Israeli attacks or force Hamas to disarm.
Reuters reported that Israel has unilaterally pushed concrete barriers marking the yellow line deeper into Hamas-controlled areas. Based on maps released by the Israeli military in March this year, analysts say Israel has now sealed off about 64% of Gaza.
Netanyahu has also repeatedly stated publicly that Israeli forces control more than 60% of Gaza. Speaking today at a meeting in a settlement in the West Bank, he said Israel would take more territory.
"We used to control 50%, now it's 60%. My instruction is to move step by step. First 70%, starting from here. We are pressuring them (Hamas) from all sides. We will deal with the remnants," Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu described the areas Israel occupies in Gaza, Syria, and Lebanon as "buffer zones," saying they can prevent attacks by militants following the Hamas-led assault on October 7, 2023, which sparked the Gaza war.
Palestinians, however, see Israel's expansion of the buffer zone in Gaza as a strategy to permanently displace them. They point out that senior Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Israel Katz, have expressed a desire to encourage "voluntary migration" of Gaza residents.
As Netanyahu issued the order, Israel also intensified attacks on Gaza, targeting senior Hamas leaders involved in the 2023 assault.
On May 26, Israel killed the head of Hamas's armed wing, just ten days after killing his predecessor.
