Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said [6] May 28 that he had ordered the Israeli military to take over 70% of the territory of the Gaza Strip. "Let's start with that," he added. A day earlier, Minister of Defense Israel Katz said the government is planning [7] for large numbers of Palestinians to leave the enclave "at the right time and in the right manner," which rights groups say amounts to ethnic cleansing.
Israeli leaders have repeatedly voiced [11] their intent to remove the vast majority of the Palestinian population from Gaza. Last October’s ceasefire agreement left Israel directly in control of 53% of the enclave’s territory and called for the creation of an International StabiliZation Force (ISF) to pave the way for the withdrawal of Israeli forces. But implementation of all aspects of the agreement has stalled [12]. As global attention has shifted elsewhere [8], Israel has created its own facts on the ground by progressively inching forward [9] the so-called "yellow line" demarcating its area of control. More than 60% of Gaza's territory currently falls within this line, and the Israeli military regularly kills and injures Palestinians in the vicinity of the shifting boundary.
From The New Humanitarian [13], May 29
See our last reports on Israel's annexation agenda [14], and accusations of genocide [15].
