Let's go step by step. First of all, 70.
Seven months after signing a ceasefire agreement brokered by the Trump administration, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly announced his intention to expand IDF territorial control of Gaza from 60 to 70 percent — a figure that already exceeds what the October 2025 agreement permitted. The announcement arrives not as a negotiating signal but as a declaration, made before a live audience, that the terms of a signed accord are being rewritten by the stronger party while peace talks remain deadlocked. In the long arc of this conflict, it marks another moment where the architecture of agreement gives way to the logic of incremental conquest.
- Netanyahu announced before a conference audience that IDF forces will expand territorial control of Gaza to 70%, openly surpassing the ceasefire's demarcation line his government signed just seven months ago.
- At least 738 Palestinians have been killed since the October 2025 ceasefire took effect, including ten people — five of them children — killed in a single airstrike on Wednesday in Gaza City.
- Senior Israeli officials, including far-right cabinet ministers, are openly discussing 'voluntary emigration' of Palestinians from Gaza, language that human rights frameworks would classify as forced displacement and a war crime.
- Indirect talks between Israel and Hamas over implementing Trump's peace plan have stalled completely, leaving the ceasefire as a nominal framework within which military operations continue unimpeded.
- The cumulative toll since 2023 now stands at over 72,000 Palestinians killed — including more than 21,000 children — as the international community negotiates around a conflict that keeps expanding.
On Thursday, Benjamin Netanyahu stood before a conference audience and announced that he had ordered the IDF to expand its control of Gaza from 60 percent to 70 percent — a direct breach of the ceasefire agreement his government signed with Hamas in October 2025, brokered by the Trump administration. When an audience member called out "100," Netanyahu smiled. "Let's go step by step," he said. "First of all, 70."
The language he used — "squeezing," "pressing," "remnants" — framed the advance as a technical operation. But the ceasefire, which took effect when the IDF held 53 percent of Gaza, has already been stretched to 60 percent. The new target makes plain that the agreement is being rewritten in real time, even as indirect talks between Israel and Hamas over Trump's peace plan remain completely deadlocked.
The strikes this week illustrate what the ceasefire means in practice. A Wednesday airstrike on a Gaza City building killed ten people, including five children, while targeting a Hamas battalion commander who died alongside his teenage daughter. The day before, the newly appointed head of Hamas's military wing was killed in a separate strike, along with his wife and two sons.
Israeli officials have been explicit about broader intentions. Defence Minister Israel Katz pledged to "eliminate everyone who led the October 7 massacre" and declared Hamas would not rule Gaza in any capacity. Far-right cabinet ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich have publicly endorsed what they call "voluntary migration" of Palestinians — language that masks what international law would consider forced displacement. Katz himself referenced a "plan for voluntary emigration" to be implemented at the "proper time."
The war began with the October 2023 Hamas-led attack that killed approximately 1,200 Israelis and took 251 hostage. Israel's military response devastated Gaza and displaced millions. By mid-May 2026, the Gaza health ministry reports 72,742 Palestinians killed and 172,565 injured — at least 21,283 of the dead were children. The ceasefire was meant to end this. Instead, it has become the frame within which the conflict quietly continues.
Benjamin Netanyahu stood before a conference audience on Thursday and announced what amounts to a deliberate breach of the agreement his government had signed seven months earlier. The Israeli Prime Minister said he had ordered the Israel Defense Forces to expand their control of Gaza from the current 60 percent to 70 percent—a territorial grab that directly contradicts the ceasefire terms Israel and Hamas agreed to in October 2025, brokered by the Trump administration.
The math of the expansion is simple enough. When the ceasefire took effect, the IDF held 53 percent of Gaza's territory. Netanyahu has already pushed that figure to 60 percent. Now he wants more. "We are currently squeezing Hamas," he told the crowd, describing the incremental advance as methodical pressure. When someone in the audience called out "100," Netanyahu paused and smiled. "Let's go step by step," he said. "First of all, 70. Let's start with that. We're pressing them from all sides, we'll deal with the remnants."
The language matters—"squeezing," "pressing," "remnants"—because it frames the occupation as a technical operation rather than what it represents: a violation of a signed agreement while peace negotiations remain stalled. Israel and Hamas are locked in indirect talks, mediated by the United States, over how to implement Trump's peace plan. Those talks have gone nowhere. Meanwhile, the IDF continues to strike Gaza despite the ceasefire. Since October, at least 738 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, figures the United Nations considers reliable.
The strikes this week alone tell the story of what "ceasefire" means in practice. On Wednesday, an Israeli airstrike on a building in Gaza City killed at least ten people, including five children. The military said it had targeted two Hamas operatives but did not name them. The actual target appears to have been Imad Asleem, a Hamas battalion commander, who was killed along with his teenage daughter Israa. A day earlier, Mohammed Odeh, the newly appointed head of the Hamas military wing, was killed in another strike, along with his wife and two sons. On Tuesday, a car strike in Khan Younis killed two more Hamas figures involved in finance and weapons production.
Israeli officials have been explicit about their intentions beyond territorial control. Defence Minister Israel Katz wrote on social media that Israel had "pledged to eliminate everyone who led the October 7 massacre" and that "Hamas will not rule Gaza civilly or militarily." More troubling still are the statements from the far-right members of Netanyahu's cabinet. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich have publicly defended what they call "voluntary migration" of Palestinians from Gaza—language that obscures what would amount to forced displacement, a war crime under international law. Katz himself referenced a "plan for voluntary emigration from Gaza" that would be implemented "at the proper time and in the proper manner."
The scale of the conflict that preceded this ceasefire remains staggering. The October 2023 Hamas-led attack killed about 1,200 Israelis and took 251 hostage. Israel's response was a massive military campaign that reduced Gaza to ruins and displaced millions. As of mid-May 2026, the Gaza health ministry reports 72,742 Palestinians killed and 172,565 injured since the war began. Of the dead, at least 21,283 were children. The ceasefire was supposed to stop this. Instead, it has become a framework within which Israel continues to advance its military objectives while the international community watches and negotiates. Netanyahu's announcement that he intends to control 70 percent of Gaza is not a slip of the tongue or a negotiating position. It is a statement of intent, delivered publicly, that the agreement signed in October is being rewritten in real time.
Citações Notáveis
We are currently squeezing Hamas; we now control 60% of the territory of the Strip. My directive is to move to 70.— Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister
Hamas will not rule Gaza civilly or militarily. We pledged to eliminate everyone who led the October 7 massacre.— Israel Katz, Israeli Defence Minister
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
When Netanyahu says he wants to expand control to 70 percent, is he actually violating the ceasefire, or is this just rhetoric?
It's both. The ceasefire agreement established a demarcation line—the "yellow line"—that defined where Israeli forces would be positioned. He's already moved beyond that. The 70 percent announcement is him saying out loud that he intends to keep moving.
But the ceasefire is still technically in place?
Technically, yes. But "ceasefire" here means something different than it sounds. Strikes continue. Territorial control expands. The talks to actually implement peace are deadlocked. It's a ceasefire in the sense that large-scale combat operations paused, not in the sense that the conflict has stopped.
What does the 70 percent actually mean on the ground?
It means more territory under Israeli military administration, more Palestinians living under occupation, more checkpoints, more restrictions. And it signals to Hamas and to the international community that Israel is not negotiating in good faith—it's taking what it wants while talks happen.
The language about "voluntary emigration" is alarming. Is that actually being discussed as policy?
Yes. Far-right ministers in Netanyahu's cabinet have been explicit about it. They frame it as voluntary, but forced displacement is a war crime. The fact that it's being discussed at all, and that the defense minister references it as something to be implemented "at the proper time," suggests it's part of a longer-term plan.
So the ceasefire is really just a pause while Israel consolidates control?
That's what the evidence suggests. The territorial expansion, the continued strikes, the elimination of Hamas leadership, the talk of resettlement—these aren't the actions of a side committed to a peace agreement. They're the actions of a side using a pause to strengthen its position.