Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday he has directed the military to expand Israeli control of Gaza to 70% of the territory, pressing forward with an offensive that has continued despite an October ceasefire agreement.
Speaking at a conference in a West Bank settlement, Netanyahu outlined the push in stages, citing Israeli control he estimated at around 60%.
“We were at fifty, we moved to sixty. My directive is to move to – let’s go step by step,” Netanyahu said, according to Reuters. “First of all, seventy. Let’s start with that. We’re pressing them from all sides. We’ll deal with the remnants.”
Reuters estimated Israel effectively controls around 64% of Gaza, based on military maps issued in March and analyst assessments. Under the October U.S.-brokered ceasefire, Israeli forces were to withdraw to a line demarcating control of roughly 53% of the territory. Reuters reported that Israel has unilaterally moved the concrete markers of that line deeper into Hamas-controlled areas.
Netanyahu has described Israeli-held areas in Gaza, Syria and Lebanon as buffer zones intended to prevent militant attacks. Reuters reported that Palestinians view the expanding zones as part of a strategy to permanently displace them, pointing to remarks from senior ministers, including Defense Minister Israel Katz, who have expressed support for what they call “voluntary migration” from Gaza.
The directive came as Israeli strikes continued. A strike Wednesday night that Israel said targeted two Hamas leaders killed at least 10 people, including five children, and wounded 18 others, Gaza health officials said. The strike hit as Palestinians gathered to mark the Eid al-Adha holiday.
Etidal Al-Za’im said she was inside her tent with family when rubble from a neighboring building collapsed on them after the strike.
“We came out to the sound of a bang, we sat for an hour before we could come out through the rubble and find a way out of the tent,” she said.
Gaza health officials said Israeli strikes have killed more than 900 people since the truce began. Israel said four of its soldiers were killed by militants during the same period.
Israel and Hamas remain deadlocked in talks over a U.S. plan that would see Israeli troops withdraw and Hamas disarm, Reuters reported.
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