New Israeli military sites near Yellow Line entrench de facto annexation, threaten civilians in Gaza
This picture taken from a position along the Israel-Gaza border, shows an Israeli army outpost overlooking destroyed buildings in the Gaza Strip on 11 October 2025
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor writes on 16 April 2026:
The Israeli army’s establishment of permanent, fortified military sites in the Gaza Strip near the Yellow Line is an extremely dangerous escalation. The Israeli-imposed Yellow Line isolates about 55 per cent of the Gaza Strip and places it under direct Israeli control.
This forms part of a systematic policy to impose a permanent fait accompli, paving the way for the de facto annexation of large parts of the occupied Palestinian territory, destroying what remains of its territorial integrity, and entrenching Israel’s unlawful presence.
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor documented a marked acceleration in the construction of fixed, fortified Israeli military sites just metres from Salah al-Din Road in eastern Gaza, near the Yellow Line. The sites consist of elevated mounds and embankments spanning large areas, with troops and military vehicles stationed there, along with radio towers, watchtowers, and other logistical equipment. This indicates an effort to entrench a permanent military presence and impose new facts on the ground.
The newly established Israeli military sites were built on the ruins of Palestinian homes, farmland, and other property, after comprehensive and systematic campaigns of destruction, bulldozing, and land levelling by the Israeli army
The Euro-Med Monitor field team confirmed the establishment of at least 20 military sites of varying size in eastern Gaza, reflecting an accelerated effort to impose facts on the ground and consolidate long-term control over large parts of the Gaza Strip in preparation for annexation. This directly contradicts the requirements of the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, which was meant to lead to an Israeli withdrawal rather than an expanded deployment and a more fortified military presence.
These newly established Israeli military sites were built on the ruins of Palestinian homes, farmland, and other property, after comprehensive and systematic campaigns of destruction, bulldozing, and land levelling by the Israeli army. The operations affected entire towns and neighbourhoods and radically altered their geography, aiming to erase their Palestinian character and convert them into barracks and military zones that entrench Israel’s unlawful presence and control over the land.
Israeli policies in the Gaza Strip form part of a broader settler-colonial system targeting Palestinian land and people. The military sites and the Yellow Line are among the latest tools used to isolate large areas of Gaza and place them under direct Israeli military control, facilitating the de facto annexation of parts of the occupied Palestinian territory. This constitutes an ongoing act of aggression and a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions and the peremptory prohibition on the acquisition of territory by force, and directly undermines the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter.