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As part of the first phase of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza in October last year, the Israeli army withdrew to what it called the “Yellow Line” — a temporary demarcation line inside the Gaza Strip that separated areas under Israeli military control from areas where people in Gaza are allowed to live and move. At the time, the Israeli military controlled 53 percent of the Gaza Strip. Under the agreement, the Israeli army was expected to carry out further withdrawals from Gaza during subsequent phases of the ceasefire. Plans released by the Trump administration in October 2025 showed future withdrawals would reduce Israel’s control to approximately 40 percent and then 15 percent of Gaza. However, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in February 2026 that Israel would not move “one millimeter” from Gaza before the disarmament of Hamas.

Over the six months since the ceasefire, maps and testimonies from Gazans indicate that Israel has not adhered to its delineated areas of control. Instead, it continued to move slowly, pushing the yellow concrete blocks marking the dividing line deeper into residential neighborhoods and establishing new fortifications and military positions beyond the agreed limits in the original ceasefire maps.

At the end of May, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared at a conference in a settlement in the Jordan Valley, stating that Israel currently controls 60 percent of the Gaza Strip and confirming that he has instructed the military to expand its control to 70 percent of the territory. The announcement spread rapidly among Gazans, fueling fear and uncertainty about the further displacement of thousands of families and the permanent removal of Palestinians from Gaza. These concerns have been validated by repeated statements from Israeli officials promoting what they describe as “voluntary migration.”

Netanyahu’s instructions for expanded control would leave more than 2 million Gazans crammed into overcrowded tent camps in less than 30 percent of the territory. Hadja Lahbib, the EU Commissioner for Equality who also serves as EU Commissioner for Preparedness and Crisis Management, said Israel is suffocating Palestinian families and hindering the delivery of aid. She also added that the expansion of Israeli control obstructs the work of humanitarian relief staff, stating that families in Gaza are “trapped between borders that move without warning.”

For now, it remains unclear which areas of Gaza Israel intends to bring further under its control. Many people in Gaza worry that the expansion could include the Bureij and Maghazi refugee camps, both of which are already densely populated and overcrowded.

Gaza Reconstruction Is Hindered as Israel Restricts Aid and Building Materials

If the expansion extends west of Salah al-Din Street into the Al-Zaytoun, Tuffah, and Daraj neighborhoods, Israeli forces would be in direct proximity to overcrowded displacement camps spread throughout Gaza City, which could result in military escalation and the mass displacement of thousands of Gazans to the remaining habitable areas of Gaza — such as the western part of Gaza City, Al-Mawasi in Khan Younis, and the central governorates. These areas are extremely small and already heavily overcrowded with residents and........

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