Netanyahu Has Publicly Admitted Israel Is Now Trying To Control 70% Of Gaza Despite The “Ceasefire”
Netanyahu said that Israel is now “fully in control of 60% of the territory of the Gaza Strip," adding that he has ordered the military to control 70%.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly ordered his military to take control of 70% of the Gaza Strip in a direct violation of the “ceasefire.”
As part of the first phase of the “ceasefire,” Israeli forces were to withdraw to a so-called “yellow line,” an Israeli-imposed invisible border cutting the Gaza Strip roughly in half, leaving more than 50% of Gaza under Israel’s control.
However, since the “ceasefire” began on Oct. 10, Israeli forces have been advancing their position further into Gaza, taking over more area and opening fire at or even killing anyone crossing the expanding “yellow line.”
Israeli-backed armed militias have also taken a leading role in emptying the territory along the line, telling residents to evacuate their homes or shelters, according to the Guardian.
On May 18, Netanyahu said that Israel now controls about 60% of the Gaza Strip as it continues its military offensive in Gaza.
On Thursday, May 29, at a conference in an illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank, Netanyahu repeated that Israel is now “fully in control of 60% of the territory of the Gaza Strip," adding that he has ordered the military to control 70%.
When an audience member shouted that Israel should take 100% of the territory, Netanyahu did not dispute that this could eventually happen.
"Let’s go step by step," he said. "First 70%. Let’s start with that."
Netanyahu’s remarks are among the clearest public statements yet of Israel's territorial goals in Gaza and come as Israeli defense minister Israel Katz reiterated the government's plan to push Palestinians out of Gaza through "voluntary emigration."
Rights organizations say a plan that makes life in Gaza so intolerable that people flee constitutes ethnic cleansing.
If Israel's military advances to control 70% of Gaza, the remaining 2.2 million Palestinians would be confined to about 109 square kilometres — less than one-third of the territory they lived in before Oct. 7, 2023.
Since Oct. 10, Israel has violated the “ceasefire” over 3,005 times, killing more than 930 Palestinians and injuring more than 2,819 others.
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Cherry Mohamed
Cherry Mohamed
Cherry Mohamed
