Israel’s military chief says ‘Yellow Line’ will be Israel’s new border. Palestinians say it’s ‘second Nakba.’
Displaced Palestinian families sheltering inside the UNRWA-run Malak School in Bani Suheila, east of Khan Younis, find themselves suddenly located within the newly designated yellow line after the Israeli army repositioned the yellow concrete blocks used to demarcate it, 9 December 2025
Tareq S. Hajjaj reports in Mondoweiss on 10 December 2025:
On November 19, the Israeli army claimed that an armed man in Rafah attacked Israeli forces. Israel carried out several airstrikes across different parts of the Gaza Strip in response to the alleged attack, killing 33 Palestinians, including 12 children.
But Israel didn’t stop at escalating from the air; Israeli vehicles also advanced into some of the eastern parts of Gaza City, including the al-Nazzaz area, Baghdad Street, and the Shuja’iyya neighborhood. These were the same areas to which displaced residents had returned after the ceasefire, only to be surprised by the Israeli vehicles that they now found in their midst.
What shocked them most, however, was that Israeli forces brought with them the same yellow concrete blocks that demarcate the so-called “Yellow Line” — the mostly invisible and supposedly temporary withdrawal line that cuts Gaza in half.
About 53% of the Strip falls under Israeli military control, where almost no Palestinians reside, and where any Palestinian who wanders near or unwittingly crosses into is shot and killed on sight. This is the part of Gaza demarcated by the “Yellow Line.”
The remaining 47% of Gaza falls under the de facto control of Hamas, housing almost all of the Strip’s some 2 million people. This area continues to be blockaded by Israel, which has prevented the full entry of humanitarian aid in violation of the terms of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire.
But now the Yellow Line is shifting. Starting on November 19, Israeli forces have continued to expand the areas where they operate, moving the line deeper into areas controlled by Hamas, in some places by about 500 meters, according to the Gaza Government Media Office. Since then, the Israeli army has only further expanded its area of control.
Earlier this week, the Israeli army’s Chief of Staff, Eyal Zamir, said in a statement that the Yellow Line is now Israel’s new border and a “forward defensive line” for Israeli communities.