Netanyahu directs Israeli military to expand control over Gaza, says IDF to take 70 pc territory

TEL AVIV: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he has directed the country’s military to expand its control over the Gaza Strip, stating that the objective is to take over 70 per cent of the territory, CNN reported.

As reported by CNN, Netanyahu commented during an interview at a conference in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli Prime Minister said Israel is “tightening” its grip on Hamas and is currently controlling around 60 per cent of Gaza. “We are now in 60 per cent of the territory of the Gaza Strip. We were at 50 per cent. We moved to 60 per cent. My directive is to move to take it step by step, first of all 70,” he said, adding that the military will proceed incrementally.

Netanyahu: We are now in 60% of the Gaza Strip, more or less. We were at 50%; now we’ve moved to 60%. My directive is to move to—

Audience: 100! 100!

Netanyahu: Wait, let’s go in order. First 70%. Let’s start with that. pic.twitter.com/YtEqORI5OL

— Clash Report (@clashreport) May 28, 2026

His remarks come as earlier reports indicated that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had already issued maps to aid agencies showing control over approximately 64 per cent of Gaza. Expanding control further would compress nearly 2 million Palestinians into an increasingly smaller area of the besieged enclave, CNN reported.

Under a ceasefire arrangement reportedly reached in October 2025 between Israel and Hamas, Israeli forces had withdrawn to a demarcation known as the “yellow line,” leaving them in control of about 53 per cent of Gaza. However, Hamas has accused Israel of shifting the line, calling it a violation of the agreement and an attempt to “impose new facts on the ground.”

“Moving the line constitutes an explicit and ongoing undermining of the ceasefire agreement, a serious violation of its provisions, and an exposed attempt to impose new facts on the ground by force, with the aim of entrenching military control over the Strip and undermining any real chance of stabilising the situation or making de-escalation efforts succeed,” Hamas said as reported by CNN.

Israel continues to eliminate the Hamas leadership in Gaza with precise strikes. In these efforts, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said that they eliminated two “senior” Hamas operatives in northern Gaza yesterday. On Tuesday, the IDF eliminated Muhammad Odeh in Gaza, the new leader of the military wing of the terrorist organisation Hamas and one of the architects of the October 7 massacre.

‘The operation was carried out on the instructions of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz,’ Israel PMO said in a post on X. Odeh served as the head of Hamas’s intelligence staff during the October 7 massacre and was appointed — about a week ago — to replace Ezzedine al-Haddad, who was eliminated in an IDF strike in the Gaza Strip two weeks ago. (ANI)