Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that he has directed the Israeli military to expand its control over the Gaza Strip to 70 percent, signaling a major escalation in Israel’s presence inside the Palestinian territory despite the existing ceasefire agreement.
Speaking at a conference on Thursday, Netanyahu said Israel currently controls around 60 percent of Gaza and intends to increase that figure further.
“We are currently squeezing Hamas; we now control 60% of the territory of the Strip,” Netanyahu said. “We were at 50, we moved to 60. My directive is to move to 70.”
The comments drew concern because they appear to contradict the terms of the ceasefire agreement brokered under U.S. President Donald Trump in October 2025. Under that agreement, Israeli forces were supposed to remain behind a demarcation boundary known as the “yellow line” while negotiations continued over a permanent settlement.
Despite the ceasefire, Israeli military operations and airstrikes have continued across Gaza. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 738 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks since the ceasefire came into effect in October. The United Nations has previously said the ministry’s casualty figures are generally reliable.
Negotiations between Israel and Hamas over the next phase of the agreement have largely stalled. The proposed peace plan includes the disarmament of Hamas and a full Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza, but indirect U.S.-mediated talks have made little progress.
Israeli officials have continued to signal plans for prolonged control over the territory. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said this week that Israel remained committed to eliminating Hamas leadership and preventing the group from governing Gaza “civilly or militarily.”
Katz also reiterated support for what Israeli officials describe as a “voluntary emigration” plan for Palestinians in Gaza. Critics and human rights groups warn that any effort to pressure or force Palestinians to leave the territory could amount to forced displacement, which is considered a war crime under international law.
Far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich have repeatedly advocated for the resettlement of Gaza with Jewish settlers and the removal of Palestinians from the enclave.
Meanwhile, Israeli strikes across Gaza have continued to kill civilians. On Wednesday night, at least 10 Palestinians, including five children, were killed by an Israeli strike on a building in Gaza City, according to local hospitals.
The Israeli military said it targeted “two central Hamas terrorists” in northern Gaza but did not initially identify them. Reports later indicated that Hamas battalion commander Imad Asleem was killed alongside his teenage daughter, Israa.
A day earlier, Israeli forces killed Mohammed Odeh, the newly selected head of Hamas’s military wing, in another strike that also killed his wife and two sons. One additional woman was also reported killed.
Israel also announced that a strike in Khan Younis killed Ihab Khrizim, described as the head of a Hamas financial transfer network, along with Mohammed al-Habash, a Hamas production unit commander allegedly involved in weapons manufacturing.
The humanitarian toll in Gaza continues to rise sharply. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 72,742 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks since the war began, while 172,565 others have been injured. Among those killed are at least 21,283 children.
As fighting and military expansion continue, fears are growing that the ceasefire agreement is rapidly collapsing, leaving millions of Palestinians trapped under worsening humanitarian conditions and ongoing bombardment.
