IDF expands Gaza occupation, displacing more Palestinians to less territory

Yellow concrete barriers that mark the so-called Yellow Line, which separates IDF-controlled territory from the rest of Gaza, June 2026

Nir Hasson, Liza Rozovsky and Rawan Suleiman report in Haaretz on 30 June 2026:

Thirty displaced families fled their tents in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahia overnight on the night between Tuesday and Wednesday last week, as Israeli tanks advanced in the area.

According to the United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, an IDF drone also dropped a bomb that set three tents in the compound ablaze.

In the morning, as Israeli forces withdrew, most families were able to return. However, six families were unable to go back to their tents, as Israeli forces moved the yellow concrete barriers used by the military to mark the so-called Yellow Line, which separates IDF-controlled territory from the rest of Gaza.

A few days later, on Monday, the Palestinian Quds News Network reported that concrete barriers were again moved – this time in central Gaza, positioned to within about two meters (approximately 6.5 feet) of Salah al-Din Road, a major artery connecting the northern and southern parts of the Strip.

The extent of IDF control over Gaza since October 2025.
When the cease-fire agreement was signed in October 2025, 53 percent of the Strip was under Israeli control. Since then, Israel has been steadily expanding the area under its control by displacing residents and relocating the yellow concrete barriers.

On March 12, the UN documented an expansion of the line by 5.5 square kilometers (about 2.2 square miles), followed by a further 800 meters (about 0.5 miles) this month. Last week, the UN estimated that the IDF now controls around 65 percent of the Strip, while residents say the figure has already exceeded 70 percent.

According to OCHA, dozens of humanitarian facilities, water and sanitation infrastructure, health centers and schools remain beyond the Yellow Line, in the area controlled by Israel.

The OCHA report also slammed the continued shooting at Gaza fishermen and people swimming along the coast, saying safe access to the sea is essential, particularly amid rising temperatures and ongoing electricity shortages.

As of April, the UN had verified 196 Palestinian deaths near the line, out of 1,045 killed by IDF fire since the cease-fire started

On Tuesday, the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported that Gaza residents witnessed preparations for the establishment of military bases for international forces near the Rafah and Kerem Shalom border crossings in the southern Strip, as well as in other areas in central and northern Gaza. A source in northern Gaza told the newspaper that residents feel they are “on the frontline” and have begun evacuating the area.

Last week, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi said that while international attention has focused on the war on Iran, Israel has expanded the Yellow Line in Gaza, increasing the territory under its control to about 70 percent of the strip and leaving Palestinians with roughly 30 percent.

Speaking at the G7 summit in France, al-Sissi added that Israel must be prevented from taking over additional territory.

In a series of widely-condemned remarks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently boasted of Israel expanding its area of control in the Gaza Strip. At a press conference on Saturday, the prime minister said Israel now controls close to 70 percent of the Strip.

In May, speaking at a conference in the Jordan Valley in the West Bank, Netanyahu said he had instructed Israeli security forces to expand the scope of control in Gaza from 60 to 70 percent.

Such a level of control appears to diverge from the Trump administration’s 20-point plan for Gaza, which called for a freeze in progress pending a full Israeli withdrawal to take place once the cease-fire deal’s conditions were met.

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