Israel has expanded its control of Gazan territory and is considering more intense military action, further squeezing the war-torn enclave.
The army advanced beyond the agreed temporary boundary and now controls 60% of Gaza, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told Tel Aviv radio station 103 FM this week. That figure was corroborated by another Israeli official and a foreign diplomat involved in monitoring the ceasefire, both of whom asked not to be identified by name discussing sensitive matters. The original boundary gave Israel control of 53% of Gaza.
“We are advancing and moving the yellow line and deepening the destruction of infrastructures,” Smotrich said.
It’s been seven months since US President Donald Trump announced the Gaza ceasefire. The truce was to begin the area’s rehabilitation following two years of Israeli strikes that killed tens of thousands of people and reduced vast sections to rubble. But with the wars in Iran and Lebanon shifting the focus away from Gaza, it’s been sinking deeper into misery. Hamas, the Iran-backed militant group which rules over the inhabited areas, isn’t disarming, Israel is stepping up air strikes, and hundreds have been killed since the ceasefire went into effect.
Spokespersons for the Israeli military and the Board of Peace, the international group charged with implementing Trump’s plan, declined to comment.
Smotrich, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet, said Hamas’ ability to re-arm is severely limited, but the group must be defeated.
“We shall have to decide at what moment we’ll go back to fighting in Gaza, and in what configuration,” he said. “What’s clear is that we need to end this war without there being a Hamas in Gaza.”
Israel is weighing further air strikes to keep Hamas from rebuilding, a senior aide to Netanyahu said, asking not to be identified by name because of the sensitivity of the matter. That would likely entail district-by-district attacks on remaining Hamas bastions, they said.
Last month was the deadliest since the start of the year, with 140 fatalities related to Israeli violence reported despite the ceasefire, independent conflict monitor ACLED said, estimating Israel’s control of Gazan territory at about 58%. “Most of the attacks took place west of the Yellow Line,” said Nasser Khdour, Middle East Assistant Research Manager at the organization.
Post-ceasefire plans remain at an impasse, with Israel accusing Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the US and many others, of refusing to disarm. In turn, Hamas says Israel has violated the terms of the deal and as a result it won’t give up its weapons.
Under the terms of the deal, Israel is meant to withdraw from Gaza in stages, linked to Hamas demilitarizing and agreeing to give up governance of any part of the Palestinian territory.
“Failure to comply with the details of the first phase is what prevents moving to the second,” Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya told Al Jazeera on Wednesday. He said more than 850 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire in October.
“There will be no reconstruction of Gaza without a decommissioning of weapons,” Nickolay Mladenov, the lead envoy for Trump’s Board of Peace, said in an interview with Tel Aviv-based i24News this week.
More than 80% of displacement camps, where the majority of Gazans live, have reported rodents or pests being frequently present, along with skin infections such as scabies, lice and bed bugs, the United Nations said in a statement.
“They live in tents amidst the rubble, dependent on humanitarian assistance for the most basic of their needs”, said Reinhilde Van de Weerdt, a representative for the World Health Organization.
One night last month, the family of Yousef al-Ostaz woke up to the screams of their month-old son. With no electricity, they shone their phone lights on him and saw his face covered in blood. He’d been bitten by a rat. He’s improving after spending 10 days in the hospital, but the family says creams and medicine are expensive.
The Israeli military branch overseeing civilian needs in Gaza says it’s working to improve sanitation and the flow of goods to the strip. Pesticides for rodent and rat control, as well as medical equipment, have been delivered to the strip, according to posts on X.
Restrictions on essential medicines and supplies must be removed, Van de Weerdt said. “Things need to change.”
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