Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Thursday that he has ordered the army to occupy 70 percent of the Gaza Strip, marking the latest violation of the October ceasefire agreement.
“At this point, we are fully in control of 60 percent of the territory of the Gaza Strip,” Netanyahu stated during a conference hosted by the pre-military Ein Prat leadership academy.
“My directive is to get to… 70 percent,” he added.
When audience members voiced support for full Israeli control over Gaza, Netanyahu responded: “We’re going in order. First 70 percent… we’ll start with that.”
His remarks came a day after Defence Minister Israel Katz reiterated Israel’s intention to advance a plan for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza through what he termed a “voluntary emigration” scheme.
“Everything at the right time and in the right manner,” Katz said.
Israel and Hamas signed a US-backed ceasefire agreement in October aimed at ending the two-year genocide in Gaza.
The deal explicitly stated that “Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza” and that “no one will be forced to leave” the territory.
It also froze the military positions held by both sides at the time of the agreement, pending later phases that envisioned further Israeli withdrawals from Gaza.
When the ceasefire took effect, Israeli forces controlled approximately 53 percent of Gaza, including significant areas in the north, south, and east of the enclave.
Since then, the Israeli military has expanded its control to roughly 60 percent of the territory.
A further expansion to 70 percent would confine Gaza’s 2.2 million Palestinians to just 109 square kilometers of land.
3,000 ceasefire violations
Israel has also been accused of violating numerous other terms of the ceasefire agreement during the more than seven months since its implementation.
According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, Israeli violations have exceeded 3,000 breaches.
Israeli forces have continued nearly daily airstrikes and shootings targeting Palestinians, killing more than 922 people since the ceasefire began, according to the Palestinian health ministry. UNICEF reported that at least 229 of those killed were children.
Overall, Israeli attacks have killed at least 72,800 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023. Thousands more remain trapped under rubble and are presumed dead.
The strikes intensified this week during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.
The Palestinian health ministry stated that Israeli forces killed 16 Palestinians between Tuesday and Wednesday alone.
Israel has also failed to implement key provisions of the agreement related to humanitarian aid.
The ceasefire deal stipulated the entry of up to 600 aid trucks per day carrying food, fuel, medical supplies, shelter materials, and commercial goods into Gaza.
According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, the daily average since the agreement took effect has been just over 200 trucks.
Aid agencies report that the restricted flow of assistance has left Gaza’s humanitarian crisis largely unresolved, with severe shortages of food, medicine, fuel, and shelter persisting across the enclave.
Hamas warned on Thursday that the ceasefire agreement in Gaza is at risk of collapse due to Israel’s ongoing violations.
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