More than 60% of the Gaza Strip is under Israeli military control.
Foreign AffairsMiddle East
- Omissions
- The actual magnitude was at or slightly above the claimed floor: Netanyahu acknowledged exactly 60% control in late May 2026 (Anadolu Agency), and NPR reported on 10 July 2026 that Israel controlled nearly 70% of Gaza, so 'more than 60%' may understate the figure by the session date.
- The figure fluctuates over time: control was about 50-53% at the October 2025 ceasefire, rose to ~58-60% by May-June 2026, and to ~64-70% by July-August 2026 (LA Times, 9 August 2026, published after the session date).
- The 70% figure is the target Netanyahu ordered the IDF to seize (28 May 2026, Guardian/Al Jazeera/BBC/Le Monde), not yet necessarily fully achieved by the session date.
- Sources
- SecondaryAnadolu AgencyNetanyahu acknowledged that Israel currently controls 60% of the Gaza Strip and signaled plans to expand control to 70%.
- SecondaryAl JazeeraThe Israeli army has already expanded its control of Gaza by 11 percent over the 'Yellow Line', beyond the terms of the 'ceasefire'. Netanyahu directed the army to seize 70 percent of the Gaza Strip.
- SecondaryNPRDespite a ceasefire, Israel controls nearly 70% of Gaza. When the U.S. brokered a ceasefire last year, Israel controlled half of Gaza. Now Israeli forces have pushed deeper.
- SecondaryThe GuardianBenjamin Netanyahu has said he has given orders to the Israeli army to seize control of 70% of the Gaza Strip, in a move that threatens to violate the ceasefire deal.
- SecondaryLe MondeThe Israeli prime minister said the Israeli military had controlled 50% of Gaza under the terms of a fragile ceasefire that took effect in October 2025, and ordered the military to take control of 70% of Gaza.
- SecondaryLos Angeles TimesSince an October ceasefire, Israel has shifted the Yellow Line west, boosting its control from 53% to about 64% of the Gaza Strip.
- SecondaryGisha (Israeli human rights organisation)The so-called 'Yellow Line' refers to the demarcation of the deployment line to where Israeli forces withdrew in the Gaza Strip; approximately 58 percent of the Gaza Strip falls on the Israeli side of the line.