DaysofPal –Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed that the Israeli army has expanded the area under its control in the Gaza Strip to 60 percent of the territory, exceeding the limits outlined in the ceasefire agreement signed with the Palestinian resistance under a plan proposed by former US President Donald Trump.
At a ceremony on Thursday night to commemorate the anniversary of the occupation of East Jerusalem, Netanyahu stated that the Israeli army currently controls 60 percent of Gaza, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
The newspaper noted that this figure surpasses the territorial limits set under the US-mediated ceasefire agreement that entered into force in October 2023, under which Israeli-controlled areas were estimated at around 53 percent of the Gaza Strip.
Haaretz reported that it had published a field investigation in January documenting the westward movement of the “yellow line,” adding that the expansion has continued in recent months, repeatedly reducing the already limited living space available to Palestinians in Gaza.
The Turkish news agency Anadolu Agency cited local sources as saying that Israel continues to shift the line through military operations on the ground. The latest reported movement occurred on 10 May, when Israeli military vehicles reportedly moved yellow-painted concrete blocks westward along Salah al-Din Street in the Netzarim corridor in central Gaza.
Under the ceasefire agreement, the “yellow line” separates areas under Israeli military control in eastern Gaza from areas where Palestinians are permitted to remain in the west, covering approximately 53 percent of the territory.
However, Israel has allegedly failed to adhere to those boundaries, gradually advancing beyond the yellow line into deeper areas of Gaza in what has recently become known as the “orange line.”
Haaretz quoted Laurie Pouvier, a geographic information systems specialist with Médecins Sans Frontières, as saying that according to the organization’s assessment, Israeli control over Gaza had increased from approximately 53 percent in October to between 57 and 58 percent.
The newspaper added that, according to Pouvier, when combined with the buffer zone identified by Israel as the “orange line,” where humanitarian organizations must coordinate with the Israeli military to avoid harm, Israel effectively controls more than 60 percent of the Gaza Strip.
Pouvier also noted that the expansion remains ongoing, pointing to newly observed yellow concrete barriers in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City in recent weeks.
Earlier, Hamas official Bassem Naim told Anadolu Agency that Israel had shifted the yellow line westward by an additional 8 to 9 percent of Gaza’s territory, increasing the total area under Israeli military control to more than 60 percent of the enclave.
The Israeli military had announced in October last year, following the implementation of the first phase of Trump’s plan, that it controlled 53 percent of Gaza.
The army has not commented on a series of international and United Nations reports documenting its westward expansion toward the so-called orange line, which has reportedly expanded Israeli-controlled territory to more than 60 percent of the Strip.
On 29 September 2025, Trump announced a plan aimed at ending Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. The first phase included a ceasefire, a partial Israeli withdrawal, the release of Israeli captives, and the entry of 600 aid trucks daily into the territory.
While Hamas said it complied with the requirements of the first phase, Israel was accused of failing to uphold its commitments and continuing military attacks, resulting in the killing and injury of hundreds of Palestinians as well as the expansion of Israeli-controlled areas.
The second phase of the agreement was expected to include a broader Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza and the beginning of reconstruction efforts in exchange for the disarmament of Palestinian factions. According to Palestinian sources, Israel did not implement this phase either and instead insisted on disarmament before further withdrawal steps.
Israel launched its genocidal campaign on Gaza on 8 October 2023, a war that lasted two years and resulted in the deaths of more than 72,000 Palestinians and injuries to over 172,000 others, the majority of them women and children. Around 90 percent of Gaza’s infrastructure was destroyed, with the United Nations estimating reconstruction costs at approximately $70 billion.
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