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, Middle East Eye reported yesterday. “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: “We’re going in order. First 70 percent… we’ll start with that.”
MEE notes that his comments came a day after Defense 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.
The statements by Netanyahua and Katz fly in the face of the 10-page report that US UN Ambassador Michael Waltz delivered to the UN Security Council on May 15 on the implementation of the Sept. 29, 2025 peace agreement. Waltz claimed that the ceasefire that went into effect last October and that the flow of humanitarian aid into the enclave is 70 percent higher than at the time of the ceasefire. “Basic food needs have been stabilized for the first time since 2023 and most bakeries have been restored and are functioning across the Strip,” Waltz’s report claimed.
According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, however, Israeli ceasefire 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 last October, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Unicef said at least 229 of those killed were children.
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. According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, 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.
