Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Thursday that he has directed the Israel Defense Forces to take over 70% of the Gaza Strip’s territory. Speaking at a conference in the occupied West Bank, Netanyahu stated that military control has recently climbed from 50% to 60% as the government seeks to tighten its grip on Hamas.
The Directive for Territorial Expansion
The move toward a 70% military occupation represents a significant shift in the scale of the current conflict. Speaking to an audience in the occupied West Bank, Netanyahu outlined a phased approach to increasing the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) presence within the Gaza enclave. According to the Prime Minister, the military has already achieved a measurable increase in its presence over the preceding weeks.
We are now in 60% of the territory of the Gaza Strip. We were at 50%. We moved to 60%.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister
The Prime Minister’s stated goal is to expand this footprint incrementally. During the briefing, he addressed the specific target for the next phase of operations.
My directive is to move to — take it step by step — first of all 70. Let’s start with that.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister
Reports from the conference indicated that the audience reacted to the announcement by calling for the military to take control of the entirety of the Gaza Strip. If the directive to reach 70% is realized, it will further compress the area available to the civilian population. The seizure of additional territory is expected to force approximately 2 million Palestinians into a shrinking fraction of the coastal enclave’s territory.
Discrepancies in Territorial Control and the Yellow Line
The Prime Minister’s figures regarding current military control do not align perfectly with previous data released by the IDF. While Netanyahu claimed the military currently holds 60% of Gaza, maps issued by the Israel Defense Forces to international aid groups in late April indicated that the military already controlled approximately 64% of the territory. This discrepancy leaves ambiguity regarding the exact progress of the military’s movement since the end of April.
The current push for 70% control also challenges the stability of the October 2025 ceasefire agreement. Under the terms of that agreement, Israeli forces had withdrawn to a specific demarcation line known as the yellow line.
This line had left Israeli forces in roughly 53% of the Gaza Strip. The move from that 53% baseline toward the 60% and eventually 70% targets suggests a significant departure from the boundaries established during the ceasefire negotiations.
Hamas Accusations of Ceasefire Violations
The expansion of the military mandate has drawn immediate condemnation from Hamas. On Tuesday, the group accused the Israeli government of moving the demarcation line and attempting to rewrite the terms of the existing peace agreement through military force. Hamas leaders characterized the movement as a strategic attempt to establish permanent control over parts of the Strip.
In a statement released this week, Hamas officials claimed the Israeli military’s actions constitutes an explicit and ongoing undermining of the ceasefire agreement, a serious violation of its provisions, and an exposed attempt to impose new facts on the ground by force, with the aim of entrenching military control over the Strip and undermining any real chance of stabilizing the situation or making de-escalation efforts succeed.
The tension between the Prime Minister’s directive and the October 2025 agreement highlights a growing gap between Israeli military objectives and the diplomatic framework intended to manage the conflict. The shift toward 70% control appears to prioritize the tightening
of the grip on Hamas over the maintenance of the established ceasefire boundaries.
Leadership Amid Health Speculation
The announcement comes at a moment of heightened scrutiny regarding Benjamin Netanyahu’s personal health and his ability to lead the government. This follows a recent hospital visit in Jerusalem, which his office stated was for routine dental work. However, the visit has coincided with a surge in online speculation regarding the Prime Minister’s well-being.
While his office maintains that the medical procedure was minor, recent reports have noted that the Prime Minister’s health has become a focus of public attention following revelations of a prostate cancer diagnosis and other past medical procedures. The intersection of these health rumors and the high-stakes military directive in Gaza adds a layer of political uncertainty to the current administration’s ability to execute its long-term strategy in the Middle East.
