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An Israeli-built barrier separating more than half the Gaza Strip it controls from the rest of the territory signals Israel’s intent to press ahead “with a regime of control,” Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU), told Newsweek.
Satellite imagery from Planet Labs shows the extent of an earthen barrier, known as a berm, running through Palestinian communities of more than 14 miles, or more than half the 25-mile length of the coastal strip that is home to 2 million people. Israel had not previously announced publicly the barrier’s construction, The Jerusalem Post reported.
Israel’s military confirmed to the Associated Press that it had constructed a physical barrier around the so-called Yellow Line, the boundary to which Israeli troops withdrew under the ceasefire deal struck last October with Hamas that ended the war prompted by the militants’ attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
Under the ceasefire, Israel will eventually withdraw its troops further to the very edges of Gaza, to be replaced by an international security force. But implementation of the deal has been stalled.
The satellite imagery released Tuesday has raised concerns that the line is morphing into a border.
“It demonstrates once again that the Israeli government has zero intention of withdrawal and is pressing ahead with a regime of control,” Doyle told Newsweek on Wednesday.
“The message to Palestinians in Gaza is that at best they will have to survive within the ever-shrinking, overcrowded hell hole Israel is creating,” he added. “These conditions are designed to maximize the pressures on Palestinians to leave.”
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told Newsweek that its troops under the Southern Command were deployed in the area of the Yellow Line “in accordance with the ceasefire agreement, the directives of the political echelon, and the operational assessment of the situation.”
“They will continue to defend the residents of the State of Israel, and in particular the residents of the western Negev.”
The Israeli military added it had developed a “security zone” around the line with intelligence and technological assets, with the aim of protecting Israeli troops and communities near Gaza.
A portion of the berm network in southern Gaza was extended by more than 1.2 miles—from 500 meters (0.3 miles) long on July 1 to 1.5 miles by July 15, according to the AP, citing the satellite imagery.
Between June 21 and July 7, more than a kilometer (0.6 miles) was added, near an Israeli military base on the ruins of the town of Bani Suheila, near Khan Younis. That spliced the Israel-controlled ruins of the city of Rafah from Muwasi, where some of the largest Palestinian tent camps are located, and an 11-mile central stretch that connects Khan Younis to northern Gaza City.
On the Israeli-controlled side, Israeli forces have leveled most buildings and agricultural land via bulldozers and explosives, establishing new road networks and bases on the ruins of towns.
But the Yellow Line has not been precisely defined, and Israeli forces have killed Palestinians who came close to the line or crossed it, including children and civilians unaware of the line’s presence. The Israeli military says it fires on those believed to be militants threatening its troops.
The IDF said the new boundary aims to make the no-go point for Palestinians clear to those in Hamas-controlled areas and stop any attempt by the terror group to infiltrate nearby Israeli border towns.
“For operational security reasons, we will not provide further details regarding the components of the deployment, the route of the barrier, or its extent,” the IDF statement to Newsweek added.
July 2 marked the 1,000th day since the start of the Gaza War that followed the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, when about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage. Israel responded with a military offensive that has killed more than 73,000 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, cited by the AP.
Rachel Norris, the Mercy Corps response director in Gaza, said in a statement to Newsweek on July 2 that the current ceasefire “has failed to bring meaningful relief, as conflict has not reduced and Palestinians still live in uncertainty.”
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Frances Mao and Dave Siminoff.
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