Netanyahu says Israeli army should expand control to 70% of Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he ordered the military to expand its control in Gaza to 70%, according to remarks made at a conference in an occupied West Bank settlement. He said Israel currently controls 60% of the territory and described the move as part of pressure on Hamas. The comments come as the ceasefire in Gaza remains fragile and its next phase has stalled for months.

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Netanyahu said the army had controlled 50% of Gaza under the terms of the ceasefire before expanding that figure to 60%. He added that his directive was to move to 70%, saying Israel was "squeezing Hamas" and would "deal with what's left afterwards". The remarks were reported from a video aired by Israel's Channel 12 network.

They were made on 28 May, according to the supplied material. The statement comes against a backdrop of continuing violence despite the truce that took effect in October. The first phase of the ceasefire saw the release of the last hostages seized in Hamas's 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel, in exchange for Palestinians detained by Israel.

The second phase, which was meant to involve Hamas's disarmament and a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces, has not advanced. Under the ceasefire terms, Israeli troops were supposed to pull back behind a so-called yellow line separating areas under Hamas control from those held by the Israeli army. The issue matters because it goes to the heart of whether the ceasefire can hold and whether the territory will move toward the next stage of the agreement.

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Any further expansion of Israeli control would deepen the gap between the stated truce terms and the reality on the ground. It also affects the prospects for Hamas's disarmament, the future deployment of Israeli forces and the wider political shape of Gaza. Netanyahu had already announced on 15 May that the Israeli army had expanded its grip on Gaza.

At that time he said Israel controlled about 60% of the territory and suggested the military would continue to hold ground. The latest comments indicate that the same approach is being extended further, even as both sides accuse each other of violating the truce. Gaza has remained under daily violence since the ceasefire began, according to the supplied material.

There are also wider implications for the conflict's next phase. Gaza's health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority, says Israel has killed more than 900 people since the ceasefire began, and those figures are considered reliable by the United Nations. Israel said it killed Mohammed Odeh, described as the new head of Hamas's armed wing in Gaza, and said he was the fourth head of the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades it has killed since the war began.

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