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Netanyahu Orders Israeli Army to Control 70% of Gaza, Defying Ceasefire Terms

Netanyahu Orders Israeli Army to Control 70% of Gaza, Defying Ceasefire Terms
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he had ordered the army to expand its control of the Gaza Strip to 70% of the territory, a move that went well beyond the terms of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire and raised fresh alarms over the enclave’s future. The directive, delivered in a public appearance in a West Bank settlement, came as Israeli forces already held around 60% of Gaza, according to Netanyahu and military maps. timesofisrael +1

Under the October 2025 ceasefire, Israel had agreed to pull back to a demarcation known as the “yellow line,” leaving it in direct control of roughly 53% of Gaza while opening the way for reconstruction, an international security presence and the release of the final 20 living Israeli hostages. firstpost +1 Expanding that footprint to 70% would effectively turn much of the remaining territory into a densely packed enclave for more than 2 million Palestinians and deepen concerns that the temporary lines are hardening into a permanent partition. timesofisrael +2

How the Order Breaks the Ceasefire Framework

Netanyahu framed the directive as part of an effort to “squeeze Hamas,” saying Israel had moved from controlling 50% of Gaza to 60%, with instructions to go “step by step” to 70%. wxow +1 That target significantly exceeds the scope envisaged in the Trump-backed 20‑point Gaza plan, which tied Israeli withdrawal to the yellow line to Hamas’ disarmament steps and to the staged deployment of an international force. firstpost +1

U.N.-linked monitors and mediators involved in the ceasefire process said any unilateral shift of the line violated both the letter and spirit of the deal endorsed by the U.N. Security Council. firstpost +1 Hamas accused Israel of “an explicit and ongoing undermining of the ceasefire agreement,” arguing that the expansion of no-go or buffer zones amounted to redrawing the map by force. wxow Analysts warned that by changing the territorial status quo without negotiations, Israel risked collapsing the sequencing that underpinned the hostage-prisoner exchanges and the broader stabilization plan for Gaza. hindustantimes +1

Humanitarian, Political and Regional Fallout

Humanitarian organisations and independent analysts said pushing Israeli control to 70% of Gaza would confine nearly the entire Palestinian population into less than a third of the strip, intensifying what aid agencies already described as catastrophic living conditions after years of war, blockade and bombardment. timesofisrael +1 “It would be a death sentence for a lot of people who physically have no place to go,” said Muhammad Shehada of the European Council on Foreign Relations. timesofisrael

The move also threatened to deepen Israel’s diplomatic isolation. European states had previously frozen arms transfers over earlier plans to seize Gaza City, and donors have been reluctant to fund reconstruction while territorial lines remain in flux. reuters +1 Regional analysts linked the Gaza directive to a broader hard line that includes Israeli strikes in Lebanon and Iran, warning that unilateral expansion on the ground could complicate emerging U.S.–Iran de‑escalation efforts and raise the risk of wider conflict involving Hezbollah and other Iranian-aligned groups. timesofisrael +1

The Bigger Picture

By ordering the army to seize 70% of Gaza, Netanyahu not only challenged a fragile ceasefire but also signalled a long-term vision of deep Israeli control over most of the enclave, with Palestinians pushed into an ever-smaller space. Whether framed as an anti-Hamas security measure or condemned as an act of de facto partition and forced displacement, the decision sharpened the central dilemma for international actors: how to sustain aid, reconstruction and diplomacy in Gaza when the territorial ground rules underpinning the truce are being unilaterally rewritten. timesofisrael +2