Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that Israel will take over additional territory in Gaza, expanding its control beyond the terms of a US-brokered peace plan signed in October 2025.
“We are currently squeezing Hamas; we now control 60 percent of the territory of the Strip – you know this. We were at 50. My directive is to move to …” Netanyahu told a conference on Thursday, pausing as someone in the crowd yelled “100!”
“Let’s go step by step. First of all, 70. Let’s start with that. We’re pressing them from all sides, we’ll deal with the remnants,” he responded.
Under the 20-point peace plan signed with the United States, Israeli forces were supposed to withdraw behind what planners called the “Yellow Line”, maintaining control of 58 percent of the territory, with full withdrawal to be set at a later date.
That withdrawal has not occurred. Instead, in the months since, Israel has expanded its controlled area by about 11 percent while also killing at least 922 people in near-daily strikes during the so-called “ceasefire”, according to reports.
Satellite data gathered in March shows Israel has built at least 32 military outposts, a ground barrier, and infrastructure along what was meant to be a temporary line.
Since October last year, numerous humanitarian agencies, including Oxfam, have accused Israel of worsening the crisis in Gaza by restricting deliveries of aid and other essential goods.
“If Israel’s ultimate plan is to exercise permanent effective control over the entirety of the Gaza Strip, we are talking about unlawful annexation,” Michael Becker, a professor of international human rights law at Trinity College in Dublin, told Al Jazeera.
“As the International Court of Justice reaffirmed in a 2024 advisory opinion, annexation constitutes a violation of the bedrock prohibition of the acquisition of territory by force.”
Since the start of its war on Gaza in October 2023, Israeli forces have killed at least 72,819 men, women, and children in Gaza, with many thousands more missing and presumed dead under the rubble.
By 2025, Israel had caused a confirmed famine in the enclave and has now destroyed nearly all infrastructure needed to support life — all without facing meaningful international sanctions, while still participating in international sporting and entertainment competitions despite protests.
Al Jazeera contacted the Israeli prime minister’s office for clarification but received no response by the time of publication.
