Jerusalem, May 17 (EFE).- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israeli forces now control around 60 percent of the Gaza Strip, as military operations continue despite a ceasefire agreement that took effect seven months ago.
“In Gaza now we already control not 50 percent, but 60 percent. We are tightening our grip on Hamas,” Netanyahu said at the start of a government meeting in Jerusalem, according to a statement released by his office.
“We know exactly what our mission is, and our mission is one thing only — to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel.”
Under the ceasefire agreement, which entered into force on Oct. 10, 2025 despite continued Israeli strikes in Gaza, Israeli troops withdrew to the so-called Yellow Line.
From there, Israel controlled roughly 53 percent of Gazan territory, confining the enclave’s population of about two million people to the remaining area.
The Yellow Line, which is not physically marked for Palestinians, was later supplemented by the so-called Orange Line in late March 2025.
According to the Israeli human rights NGO Gisha, the Orange Line established a restricted area of approximately 174 square kilometers, nearly 48 percent of Gaza’s territory, where the movement of humanitarian organizations and NGOs is prohibited without prior coordination with Israel.
However, Gisha said that on Mar. 8, 2026, five months after the ceasefire began, the Israeli military sent international organizations an updated map of the Orange Line via WhatsApp, extending the controlled zone by an additional 11 percent beyond the original Yellow Line.
“This expanded the zones where humanitarian access is subject to Israeli coordination to nearly 64 percent of the total territory of the strip,” the organization said, noting that Palestinians are prohibited from entering these areas on foot.
“Organizations wishing to relocate personnel or transport aid to these areas must obtain an Israeli permit, a process that delays and at times obstructs their work,” the NGO added. EFE
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