Netanyahu 70%-Gaza Directive Monday: Second-Phase Ceasefire Collapse Accelerates
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s directive to expand Israeli control of Gaza to 70% of the territory — announced last Thursday and rolled forward through the weekend — is now read by Hamas, Egyptian mediators and the Israeli security establishment as the effective collapse of the second phase of the October 10 ceasefire. The Monday Beirut southern suburbs strikes by Israel sit alongside continued Gaza operations. 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 combined picture — Gaza 70%, Beirut Dahieh strikes, Beaufort Ridge ground push, renewed US-Iran exchange — is the most aggressive Israeli regional posture since the September 2024 Hezbollah decapitation operation. Netanyahu has separately told confidants Israel has “no manoeuvre to influence the president right now” on the Iran deal — the Monday escalation may be designed to force a decision either way.