World

Israel Expands Control Over Gaza, Leaving Palestinians in Shrinking Territory

By Mohammed Haddad

A year after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire, Israel now controls 65 percent of Gaza, confining 2.1 million Palestinians to the remaining 35 percent of the 365‑square‑kilometre strip. The original “Yellow Line,” drawn by President Donald Trump’s 20‑point plan, marked the area to which Israeli forces were to withdraw. Instead, Israeli troops have moved the yellow concrete markers further west, expanding their control. In Shujayea, a neighbourhood in southeastern Gaza City, the line was moved dozens of metres west on Sunday, forcing families to flee and bringing more of the area under military control.

Al Jazeera’s Ibrahim al‑Khalili, reporting from Gaza City, said the line’s movement is not just a question of its current position but where it can shift next. He noted that families displaced repeatedly over the past three years face an impossible decision about where to go.

Since the war began on 7 October 2023, more than 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.1 million residents have been forcibly displaced. The Gaza Strip, once densely populated with about 6,000 people per square kilometre, now has a density of roughly 16,000 people per square kilometre, comparable to central Tokyo. Each person has about 61 square metres (657 sq ft) of land for shelter, roads, schools, hospitals and farmland.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that 65 percent of Gaza is now subject to access restrictions, while Israel claims it controls about 70 percent of the territory. The UN Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) reports that 82 percent of structures in the Strip are damaged or destroyed, and the Food and Agriculture Organization says only 3 percent of Gaza’s cropland is both undamaged and accessible.

Nearly 1,500 people have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire was announced, and approaching the Yellow Line can be deadly, as areas beyond it are treated as free‑fire zones. More than 950,000 people live in displacement sites at risk of flooding, most of them in tents and makeshift shelters.

The expansion of Israeli control has left Palestinians with less than half of the land they once occupied, while the population density has nearly tripled since before the war.