Netanyahu 70%-Gaza Directive Holds Through Wednesday Evening; Continued Strikes Across the Strip
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s directive to expand Israeli control of Gaza to 70% of the territory remains in operational effect through Wednesday evening, with continued Israeli strikes across the Strip. Since the October 10 ceasefire, Israel has killed at least 906 Palestinians and injured more than 2,747 others, per Al Jazeera’s ceasefire-violation tracker. Gaza’s health ministry says the Israeli campaign has killed at least 72,800 Palestinians since the war began in October 2023.
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. The Wednesday picture — Beirut strikes still active despite Trump intervention, Gaza 70% directive holding, Lebanon ambassadorial talks running in Washington with French and Saudi envoys preparing to join, Trump editing the Iran agreement — is the most diplomatically and operationally complex regional posture since the September 2024 Hezbollah decapitation operation. The Gaza track is the next likely point of US pressure if the Iran framework signs in the coming days.