Benjamin Netanyahu orders IDF to widen area of Gaza it occupies to 70%
May 29 (UPI) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the Israel Defense Forces to expand the proportion of Gaza territory it occupies to 70% as part of a "squeeze" on Hamas aimed at forcing its hand in negotiations to progress a U.S.-brokered peace deal.
Netanyahu told reporters Thursday that Israeli forces had been gradually increasing the amount of territory they held from 50% to 60%, at present, but he had now directed them to seize a further 10%.
"We are currently squeezing Hamas; we now control 60% of the territory of the Strip -- you know this. We were at 50, we moved to 60... Let's go step by step. First of all, 70. Let's start with that. We're pressing them from all sides, we'll deal with the remnants," he said.
U.S. President Donald Trump's peace plan, signed by Israel and Hamas in October, commits Israel to a three-phase pullout, with Israeli forces initially withdrawing to a so-called "yellow line" leaving Israel in control of about 53% of Gaza.
Separating the sides was to smooth the path for negotiations to deliver the rest of the 20-point plan, the next steps of which were for Hamas disarm and Israeli troops to begin leaving Gaza
The IDF withdrew as per the plan immediately after the cease-fire came into force on Oct. 9, but talks have failed to move the process forward.
Israeli troops have since begun gradually pushing west beyond the demarcation line running most of the length of the strip, into the half controlled by Hamas, with more than 900 Palestinians killed in what it says were actions to defend its side of the yellow line.
Netanyahu's order came a day after Defense Minister Israel Katz reiterated that Israel would not rest until it had dealt with all those involved with the Oct. 7 attacks on the country and that the long-term goal was for mass migration of Palestinians out of Gaza, albeit on a voluntary basis.
"We pledged that Hamas will not rule Gaza civilly or militarily," he said.
Muhammad Shehada, a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told The Guardian the move not only completely upended the peace plan but would force a population of 2.2 million into an area less than one-third of the enclave's size prior to the start of the war, when it was already one of the most densely populated places on Earth.
"Netanyahu is now declaring the whole Trump deal, the framework for Gaza, to be null and void. That's what it means in a nutshell. There's no other way to spell it out. Every square meter has another displaced family, another makeshift tent, or some sort of improvised shelter on it. So it would be a death sentence for a lot of people who physically have no place to go," said Shehada.
Copyright 2026 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 9:05 AM.