Netanyahu 70%-Gaza Directive Opens Week as Lebanon Ceasefire Breaks Down
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s directive to expand Israeli control of Gaza to 70% of the territory opens the week in operational effect as the Lebanon conditional ceasefire breaks down with overnight Israeli strikes on Beirut Dahieh. 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 Monday picture — Beirut Dahieh strikes operationally breaking the Lebanon ceasefire, Iran framework impasse with Pakistani mediation continuing, London Russia summit aftermath, Gaza 70% directive holding, Brent above $99 — is the most diplomatically and operationally complex week open since the early-summer phase of the war began.