Overview
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he directed the Israel Defense Forces to expand control to 70 percent of the Gaza Strip and to proceed step by step from the roughly 60 percent he has publicly cited.
- IDF maps shared with aid groups in late April already showed Israeli forces controlling about 64 percent of Gaza, a shift from the October 2025 ceasefire boundary known as the “yellow line” that left Israel in control of roughly 53 percent.
- Israeli officials frame the expansion as a way to weaken Hamas and create buffer zones, while Hamas and diplomats say moving the line undermines the truce and risks making a temporary military boundary permanent.
- Fighting and targeted strikes continue inside Gaza, including recent killings of senior Hamas commanders, and Gaza health authorities report more than 900 people have died in strikes since the ceasefire began.
- Humanitarian and legal warnings say seizing more territory would compress nearly 2 million Palestinians into a smaller, devastated area, raising risks of mass displacement, reduced aid access, and growing international scrutiny.