Tel Aviv: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he had ordered the country’s military to take control of 70 per cent of the Gaza Strip, in defiance of the terms of a fragile ceasefire that took effect in October, reported AFP.
“We are now in 60 per cent of the territory of the Gaza Strip. We were at 50 per cent, we moved to 60 per cent. My directive is to move to — take it step by step — first of all 70. Let’s start with that,” Netanyahu said at a press conference in an occupied West Bank settlement.
“We’re squeezing them from all sides. We’ll deal with what’s left afterwards.”
In the first phase of the truce, the last hostages seized in the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel by Hamas — which triggered the war in Gaza — were released in exchange for Palestinians detained by Israel.
The second phase, which was to involve Hamas’ disarmament and a gradual withdrawal of the Israeli army, has been stalled for months.
Under the ceasefire terms, Israeli forces were to pull back behind a so-called ‘yellow line’, a demarcation between the area under Hamas control and that held by the Israeli army.
But Netanyahu announced on May 15 that the Israeli army had expanded its grip on the Gaza Strip.
“There were those who said: get out, get out. We did not get out. Today we control… how much? 60 per cent. Tomorrow we shall see,” he had said a fortnight ago.
The Israeli military and Hamas have been accusing each other of violating the truce in effect since October 10, 2025, as Gaza remains gripped in violence on a daily basis.
Gaza’s Health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority, has claimed Israel has killed more than 900 people since the ceasefire.
On Wednesday, Israel claimed it had killed the new head of Hamas’ armed wing in Gaza, Mohammed Odeh, after eliminating his predecessor earlier this month.
