Netanyahu Says Israeli Military to Take Over 70 Percent of Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he had directed the Israeli military to take over 70 percent of the Gaza strip.

In comments at a conference hosted by a “pre-military” academy in an illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank, Netanyahu said that his “directive is to move to… take [Gaza] step by step… first of all 70 percent.”

“One hundred! One hundred!” audience members shouted.

“First, 70,” Netanyahu said. “Let’s start with that.”

He said that the military is already in control of 60 percent of Gaza. “We were at 50 percent, we moved to 60 percent,” he asserted.

Under the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement of October 2025, the Israeli military created a “yellow line” that divided Gaza in half, with Israel controlling 53 percent of the territory. Palestinians who approached the line, marked by blocks painted yellow, were shot and killed by Israeli forces — despite the so-called ceasefire. Reuters noted in January that Israel had moved some of these blocks deeper into Gaza, destroying more areas and forcing residents to flee further west. Research agency Forensic Architecture found that by December, Israel had taken 58 percent of Gaza, and continued to move the line forward.

At the end of April, Israel issued new military maps that outlined an expansion in military control over Gaza, with a new “orange line” claiming control of 64 percent of Gaza. Israel claimed this marked a “security zone” for the coordination of aid distribution, but Gaza residents spoke of being targeted and forced to flee as the line continued to move. They also noted that as the line moved — still marked by yellow blocks — so did the home demolitions, and heavy gunfire.

Netanyahu’s comments come a day after Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz wrote in a statement: “The plan for voluntary emigration from Gaza will also be implemented, all at the proper time and in the proper manner.”

Last year, Israel’s security cabinet established a “voluntary emigration bureau” for Gaza — to facilitate the ethnic cleansing of Gaza’s residents.

Israel has killed over 910 Palestinians in Gaza since the so-called ceasefire began in October. The 2.1 million surviving residents of Gaza are confined to less than half of the territory.

“Gaza’s humanitarian space is further shrinking,” Hadja Lahbib, European commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management, wrote on X in response to Netanyahu’s announcement. “As Israeli military control expands, shifting lines hamper aid workers & cut essential services (including clean water) for those in need. Families are trapped between boundaries that move without warning.”

Josh Ruebner, policy director of the Institute for Middle East Understanding, told Truthout that Netanyahu’s seizure of yet more Palestinian land in Gaza demonstrates the “sham nature” of President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan.

“Israel has faced absolutely no accountability for continuing to kill Palestinians in Gaza on a daily basis, to destroy more Palestinian homes, to deny the entrance of badly-needed humanitarian aid — all in violation of the terms of Trump’s plan,” Reubner said. “Clearly, Trump’s unwillingness to hold Israel to the terms of the Gaza plan is designed to allow Israel to continue its ongoing genocide of Palestinians and to create the infrastructure for a permanent military occupation within at least 70 percent of Gaza.”

Netanyahu is expanding Israel’s control over Gaza at the same time as he is escalating Israel’s attacks across Lebanon — likely taking advantage of the period before a deal is negotiated in the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.