WASHINGTON — In a move that threatens to permanently alter the geography of the Middle East and completely unravel a fragile peace, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Thursday that he has directed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to expand their territorial control to encompass 70% of the Gaza Strip.
Speaking at a conference in the occupied West Bank, Netanyahu signaled a systematic, incremental takeover of the coastal enclave.
"We are now in 60% of the territory of the Gaza Strip. We were at 50%. We moved to 60%," Netanyahu told an enthusiastic audience, which openly chanted for the total annexation of Gaza. "My directive is to move to — take it step by step — first of all 70. Let’s start with that."
The Crumbling Yellow Line
The aggressive push forward directly defies the US-brokered ceasefire agreement enacted in October 2025 under the Trump administration. That accord established a strict demarcation boundary known as the "yellow line," which mandated that Israeli forces withdraw and limit their presence to roughly 53% of Gaza.
Hamas leadership immediately condemned the advancement on Tuesday, calling it an "exposed attempt to impose new facts on the ground by force" and an explicit violation aimed at entrenching a permanent military occupation.
For the 2 million Palestinian civilians trapped inside Gaza, Netanyahu’s 70% directive means being squeezed into a rapidly shrinking, heavily bombarded, and shattered fraction of the territory.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed a "step-by-step" strategy to tighten the military's grip on Gaza, drawing fierce condemnation from international observers.
A Frozen Peace Framework
Diplomats warn that the window for a peaceful resolution is rapidly closing. Nickolay Mladenov, the Bulgarian diplomat tasked with overseeing the implementation of the ceasefire, issued a stark warning earlier this month, noting that without diplomatic progress, the temporary "yellow line" risks becoming a permanent "fence or wall" dividing Gaza forever.
The deadlock stems from a mutual failure to meet the core tenets of the US-brokered plan:
Hamas Defiance: Hamas has flatly refused to disarm or decommission its arsenal, halting the planned deployment of a neutral international security force.
Israeli Incursions: Citing intelligence that Hamas is actively rearming, Israel has launched a relentless campaign of airstrikes.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Public Health, over 850 people have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire supposedly took effect. This includes the high-profile assassinations of Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the leader of Hamas' military wing, and his immediate successor just eleven days later.
"We vowed to eliminate everyone who led the October 7 massacre... they are all condemned to death everywhere," Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declared on social media on Thursday.
With no clear timeline for an international intervention and both sides dug into existential warfare, Washington insiders fear that Israel’s gradual, step-by-step expansion will soon become an irreversible reality on the ground.
