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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he had directed the country's military to seize 70% of the Gaza Strip, after expanding Israeli control from 50% to 60% since a ceasefire took effect in October.
Analysts say this declaration effectively nullifies the Trump-brokered peace framework and, if implemented, would confine 2.2 million Palestinians to less than a third of the territory.
"We are currently squeezing Hamas. We now control 60% of the territory in the strip," Netanyahu said at a conference held in an occupied West Bank settlement, according to a video aired by Israel's Channel 12.
"You know, we were at 50, we moved to 60. My directive is to move to … 70%," he said.
"We're pressing them from all sides. We'll deal with the remnants," he added.
Under the U.S.-brokered ceasefire that took effect in October, Israeli forces were to withdraw behind a demarcation known as the Yellow Line, which placed approximately 53% of Gaza under Israeli military control. The remainder was to stay under Hamas administration, with a second phase envisioning Israeli withdrawals and Hamas disarmament.
Reuters has reported that Israel has unilaterally moved the concrete blocks marking the Yellow Line deeper into the Hamas-controlled territory. Maps issued by the Israeli military in March showed a restricted area that analysts say cordons off around 64% of Gaza's territory.
Bassem Naim, a senior Hamas official, told Türkiye's state-run Anadolu Agency (AA) that Israel has shifted the line by an additional 8% to 9% beyond the ceasefire terms, reducing the space available to Palestinians to roughly 38% of the enclave.
Netanyahu had signaled the expansion on May 15. "There were those who said: get out, get out. We did not get out. Today we control ... how much? 60%. Tomorrow we shall see," he said at the time.
Israeli-backed armed militias have taken a growing role in emptying areas along the ceasefire line, telling residents near the Yellow Line to vacate their homes.
A U.N. briefing on Sunday for heads of humanitarian agencies working in Gaza noted that in the northern district of Jabalia, "tanks advancement (were) reported daily, drones targeting any movement close (to) the yellow line." Israeli tanks were also reported advancing east of the southern city of Khan Younis. A militia run by Gaza warlord Ashraf al-Mansi advanced westward from the yellow line around Jabalia last week, the U.N. briefing showed.
According to The Guardian, Wael Nayef Abu al-Ajeen, a 26-year-old from east of Deir al-Balah in southern Gaza, described being forced out by militia members earlier this month.
"It was at around 1:00 p.m. when armed men affiliated with the militias entered our area. They went to the homes of the Abu al-Ajeen family and informed them that they had until 10:00 p.m. to evacuate all the houses in the area," he said.
"They instructed them to take whatever furniture and belongings they could carry and to empty the houses as much as possible. They also told them not to return until they were contacted. As a result, everyone panicked, and people gradually began leaving and moving their furniture and whatever belongings they could carry until the area was almost completely emptied," he added.
Speaking to The Guardian, Nasser Khdour, a researcher at the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), said the militias have gone beyond targeting Hamas.
"We have seen that the militias are not only attacking Hamas, but they are also contributing to pushing the residents who are living close to their line, further to the west. We have seen killing, arrests and kidnapping of civilians living in these areas. Recently, there's an increase in the militias' patrolling activities as well," Khdour said.
Speaking to The Guardian, Muhammad Shehada, a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said Netanyahu's announcement effectively destroyed what remained of the Trump peace framework.
"Netanyahu is now declaring the whole Trump deal, the framework for Gaza, to be null and void. That's what it means in a nutshell. There's no other way to spell it out," Shehada said.
Israeli forces have systematically destroyed buildings within their zone. If control expands to 70%, 2.2 million Palestinians who have survived the war would be crammed into less than a third of the territory.
"The conditions there are already appalling. It is the single most overcrowded place on the face of the planet," Shehada said.
"Every square meter has another displaced family, another makeshift tent, or some sort of improvised shelter on it. So it would be a death sentence for a lot of people who physically have no place to go," he added.
Trump's 20-point peace plan had 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. We will encourage people to stay and offer them the opportunity to build a better Gaza."
Speaking to The Guardian, Israeli analyst Gershon Baskin, who has participated in several Israeli-Palestinian backchannel negotiations, said peace talks had effectively ended.
"My understanding is that the negotiations with Hamas are over. The Americans gave Hamas the offer on a plan for disarmament, which took into account all the things that Hamas demanded already two months ago, but Hamas didn't respond," Baskin said.
He described a U.S. fallback plan involving reconstruction only in the Israeli-controlled zone, with entry restricted to Palestinians vetted for Hamas links.
"At the end of the day, the only people remaining in the yellow zone, according to the Americans, are Hamas and other armed groups. And then Israel will be free to deal with them as they want. This is the thinking, this is the planning, and this is what I see happening in the coming weeks and months," Baskin said.
Israel has killed more than 900 Palestinians since the ceasefire took effect in October, according to Gaza's health ministry. Since October 2023, Israel has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians and injured over 172,000 others, the majority of them women and children.
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