In the latest ceasefire violation, Israel is set to deepen occupation of Gaza as defence minister reiterates plans for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he had ordered the army to occupy 70 percent of the Gaza Strip, in the latest violation of the October ceasefire.
‘At this point, we are fully in control of 60 percent of the territory of the Gaza Strip,’ Netanyahu said during a conference hosted by the pre-military Ein Prat leadership academy.
‘My directive is to get to 70 percent,’ he added.
When audience members shouted in support of full Israeli control over Gaza, Netanyahu replied: ‘One step at a time…First 70 percent, we’ll start with that…’
His comments came a day after Defence Minister Israel Katz reiterated Israel’s intention to advance a plan for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza through what he described as a ‘voluntary emigration’ scheme.
‘Everything at the right time and in the right manner,’ Katz said.
Israel and Hamas signed a US-backed ceasefire agreement in October aimed at ending the two-year genocide in Gaza.
The deal explicitly stated that ‘Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza’ and that ‘no one will be forced to leave’ the territory.
It also froze the military positions held by both sides at the time of the agreement, pending later phases that envisioned further Israeli withdrawals from Gaza.
At the time the ceasefire came into effect, Israeli forces controlled around 53 percent of Gaza, including large areas in the north, south, and east of the enclave.
Since then, the Israeli military has expanded its control to roughly 60 percent of the territory.
A further expansion to 70 percent would confine Gaza’s 2.2 million Palestinians to just 109 square kilometres of land.
3,000 ceasefire violations
Israel has also been accused of violating multiple other terms of the ceasefire agreement during the more than seven months since it took effect.
According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, Israeli violations have exceeded 3,000 breaches.
Israeli forces have continued near-daily air strikes and shootings targeting Palestinians, killing more than 922 people since the ceasefire began, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Unicef said at least 229 of those killed were children.
Overall, Israeli attacks have murdered at least 72,800 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023. Thousands more remain trapped under rubble and are presumed dead.
The strikes intensified this week during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.
The Palestinian health ministry said Israeli forces slaughtered 16 Palestinians between Tuesday and Wednesday alone.
Israel has also failed to implement key provisions of the agreement relating to humanitarian aid.
The ceasefire deal stipulated the entry of up to 600 aid trucks per day carrying food, fuel, medical supplies, shelter materials and commercial goods into Gaza, but the daily average since the agreement took effect has been just over 200 trucks.
Aid agencies say the restricted flow of assistance has left Gaza’s humanitarian crisis largely unresolved, with severe shortages of food, medicine, fuel, and shelter continuing across the enclave.
Hamas on Thursday warned that the ceasefire agreement in Gaza is at risk of collapse due to Israel’s ongoing violations.