Let's go step by step. First of all, 70.
Eight months after a ceasefire was brokered in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly ordered the IDF to extend territorial control to 70 percent of the territory — well beyond the 53 percent ceiling the agreement established. The directive arrives as indirect peace talks have stalled and the cumulative human cost of the conflict has reached over 72,000 Palestinian lives. In the long arc of this war, the announcement marks a visible pivot from nominal ceasefire toward consolidation, raising profound questions about what peace agreements mean when the ground beneath them keeps shifting.
- Netanyahu announced at a public conference that he had ordered the IDF to push territorial control from 60% to 70% of Gaza — a figure that already exceeded the ceasefire's 53% limit before this new directive.
- At least 738 Palestinians have been killed since the October 2025 ceasefire began, including ten people — five of them children — in a single strike on a Gaza City building this week.
- High-profile targeted killings are accelerating: the newly appointed head of Hamas's military wing, a battalion commander, and a senior financial operative were all killed within days of each other.
- Indirect talks mediated by the United States have reached an impasse, and the Trump administration's twenty-point withdrawal plan appears increasingly disconnected from events on the ground.
- Israeli officials' language around 'voluntary emigration' of Palestinians is drawing alarm from international observers who warn it may be a legal euphemism for forced displacement — a war crime under international law.
At a conference on Thursday, Benjamin Netanyahu announced he had ordered Israeli forces to expand their territorial hold in Gaza from 60 percent to 70 percent. When someone in the crowd called out "100," Netanyahu was measured: "Let's go step by step. First of all, 70."
The directive is a direct violation of the ceasefire Israel and Hamas reached in October 2025 under Trump administration mediation. That agreement set a boundary — the so-called "yellow line" — capping Israeli control at roughly 53 percent of Gaza. The IDF had already exceeded that threshold. Netanyahu's new order pushes further still.
The ceasefire has been ceasefire in name only. Since October, at least 738 Palestinians have been killed. This week, a strike on a Gaza City building killed ten people including five children; the military said it targeted Hamas operatives, but among the dead were a battalion commander and his teenage daughter. A day earlier, the newly appointed head of Hamas's military wing was killed alongside his wife and two sons. Strikes in Khan Younis also killed a senior figure overseeing Hamas's financial networks and a weapons manufacturing commander.
The broader peace process has stalled. The Trump administration's plan envisions Hamas disarming and Israeli forces withdrawing in phases, but those talks have hit an impasse. Netanyahu's public expansion order signals that Israel is moving toward consolidating territory rather than relinquishing it.
Defense Minister Israel Katz reinforced the posture, pledging to eliminate all those responsible for the October 7 attack and vowing that Hamas would not govern Gaza in any form. He also invoked a "plan for voluntary emigration" — language that mirrors far-right ministers Ben Gvir and Smotrich, and that international observers have flagged as a potential cover for forced displacement, which would constitute a war crime.
The toll is immense. Gaza's health ministry reports 72,742 Palestinians killed since October 2023, including at least 21,283 children, with 172,565 injured. Nearly all of Gaza's 2.1 million residents have been displaced. As Israeli control deepens toward 70 percent, the prospect of the negotiated withdrawal that was supposed to define this ceasefire's next phase appears to be fading.
At a conference on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he had ordered the Israel Defense Forces to expand their territorial control in Gaza from the current 60 percent to 70 percent. Speaking publicly about the directive, he described the operation in measured terms: the military was "squeezing Hamas" and pressing from all sides, he said, before laying out the next target. Someone in the crowd called out "100," but Netanyahu demurred. "Let's go step by step," he replied. "First of all, 70. Let's start with that."
The announcement represents a direct breach of the ceasefire agreement that Israel and Hamas reached in October 2025, brokered by the Trump administration. That deal had established a demarcation line—known as the "yellow line"—that left Israel in control of approximately 53 percent of Gaza's territory. The IDF's expansion to 60 percent already exceeded those terms. Netanyahu's new directive to push to 70 percent signals an intention to hold substantially more ground than the agreement permits.
The ceasefire, now nearly eight months old, has been marked by continued Israeli military operations despite its nominal status. Since October, at least 738 Palestinians have been killed, according to figures from Gaza's health ministry, which the United Nations considers reliable. This week alone saw multiple strikes. On Wednesday, an Israeli operation on a building in Gaza City killed at least ten people, including five children. The military said it had targeted two Hamas operatives, but local hospitals and reporting indicated the strike killed Hamas battalion commander Imad Asleem and his teenage daughter Israa. A day earlier, Mohammed Odeh, the newly appointed head of Hamas's military wing, was killed along with his wife and two sons in another strike. Additional operations in Khan Younis killed Ihab Khrizim, who oversaw Hamas's funds transfer network, and Mohammed al-Habash, a unit commander involved in weapons manufacturing.
Meanwhile, the broader peace process has stalled. The Trump administration's twenty-point plan for Gaza envisions Hamas disarming and Israeli troops withdrawing in subsequent phases, but indirect talks between the two sides, mediated by the United States, have reached an impasse. Netanyahu's public expansion directive appears to signal that Israel intends to consolidate control on the ground rather than move toward the withdrawal the agreement contemplates.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz reinforced this posture on Wednesday, writing on social media that Israel had "pledged to eliminate everyone who led the October 7 massacre" in 2023—the attack that killed roughly 1,200 people and triggered the war. He also stated that Israel would ensure "Hamas will not rule Gaza civilly or militarily." Katz added that what he termed a "plan for voluntary emigration from Gaza" would be implemented "at the proper time and in the proper manner." That language echoes rhetoric from Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who have publicly defended what they describe as "voluntary migration" of Palestinians from Gaza—a term that international observers have flagged as potentially masking forced displacement, which would constitute a war crime.
The human toll of the conflict remains staggering. As of mid-May 2026, the Gaza health ministry reports 72,742 Palestinians killed since the war began in October 2023, with 172,565 injured. Of those killed, at least 21,283 were children. The territory's 2.1 million residents have been largely displaced, and much of Gaza has been reduced to ruins. Netanyahu's directive to expand Israeli control to 70 percent suggests the military footprint will only deepen, and the prospect of a negotiated Israeli withdrawal—central to the ceasefire agreement—appears to be receding.
Citas Notables
We are currently squeezing Hamas; we now control 60 percent of the territory of the Strip. My directive is to move to 70.— Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Hamas will not rule Gaza civilly or militarily. A plan for voluntary emigration from Gaza will be implemented at the proper time and in the proper manner.— Defense Minister Israel Katz
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why would Netanyahu announce this expansion so publicly, knowing it violates the ceasefire terms?
Because the political pressure from his right flank is immense. Ben Gvir and Smotrich are in his coalition. They oppose any withdrawal. A public directive signals to them that he's not backing down.
But doesn't that risk collapsing the ceasefire entirely?
It may already be collapsing. The strikes continue, the talks are stalled, and now he's saying Israel will hold more territory. The ceasefire was always fragile—it was a pause, not a peace.
What about the "voluntary emigration" language? How serious is that threat?
It's not new rhetoric from the far right, but having it come from the Defense Minister gives it weight. It's a way of framing forced displacement as something Palestinians choose. Whether it becomes policy depends on what happens in the next phase.
Is there any mechanism to enforce the original ceasefire terms?
Not really. The Trump administration brokered it, but enforcement requires both sides to comply. If Netanyahu is openly violating it and the U.S. doesn't push back, there's no enforcement mechanism at all.
So what happens next?
Either the talks restart and Israel agrees to withdraw, or the ceasefire becomes a permanent occupation with a different name. The 70 percent directive suggests Netanyahu is betting on the latter.