Netanyahu 70%-Gaza Directive Holds Through Friday as Lebanon Ceasefire Already Fragmented
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s directive to expand Israeli control of Gaza to 70% of the territory remains in operational effect through Friday morning as the Lebanon conditional ceasefire signed Wednesday has already been rejected by Hezbollah Thursday. 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 Friday picture — Hezbollah formally rejecting the Lebanon truce, Israel reserving the right to strike Beirut, Iran chief negotiator saying US “not to be trusted”, Zelensky proposing direct Putin meeting — is the most diplomatically complex regional posture since the September 2024 Hezbollah decapitation operation. Egyptian mediators continue indirect Hamas-Israel talks but remain deadlocked.