Netanyahu 70%-Gaza Directive Saturday Reaction: Second-Phase Ceasefire Now Effectively Collapsed
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s directive to expand Israeli control of Gaza to 70% of the territory — announced Thursday and rolled forward through Friday and Saturday — is now read by Hamas, by Egyptian mediators and by the Israeli security establishment as the effective collapse of the second phase of the October 10 ceasefire. The directive is presented internally as a response to Hamas’s failure to release remaining hostages and disarm. Since the October ceasefire, Israel has killed at least 906 Palestinians and injured more than 2,747 others, per Al Jazeera’s ceasefire-violation tracker.
The 70%-control target represents a significant expansion of Israeli territorial control from the roughly 40-45% Israel was operating in before the directive. Critics — including some inside the Israeli security establishment — say the territorial-control objective is incompatible with the second-phase obligations Israel signed up to. Gaza’s health ministry says the Israeli campaign has killed at least 72,800 Palestinians since the war began in October 2023. The new Hamas military-wing leader Mohammed Odeh was killed by Israeli airstrike earlier in the week; Hamas held a funeral procession through Gaza City. Israel and Hamas remain deadlocked in indirect talks over implementing the second phase of the October ceasefire deal. The 70%-directive is the largest single Israeli escalation in Gaza since the post-ceasefire period began.