TEL AVIV: Israel has dramatically expanded its footprint in Gaza Strip since relaunching its war against Hamas last month. It now controls more than 50% of the territory and is squeezing Palestinians into shrinking wedges of land.
The largest contiguous area the army controls is around the Gaza border, where the military has razed Palestinian homes, farmland and infrastructure to the point of uninhabitability, according to Israeli soldiers and rights groups. This buffer zone has doubled in size in recent weeks.
Israel has depicted its tightening grip as a temporary necessity to pressure Hamas into releasing remaining hostages taken during the Oct 7, 2023, attack that started the war. But the land Israel holds, which includes a corridor that divides the territory’s north from south, could be used for wielding long-term control, rights groups say. PM Benjamin Netanyahu has said even after Hamas is defeated, Israel will keep security control in Gaza and push Palestinians to leave. “They destroyed everything they could, they shot everything that looks functioning … (the Palestinians) will have nothing to come back,” said a soldier.ap