Gaza: Netanyahu 70%-Control Directive Holds as Iran Deal Pivot Defines Sunday Morning
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s directive to expand Israeli control of Gaza to 70% of the territory remains in operational effect through Sunday morning as the Iran framework signing-pivot defines the regional posture. 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. Egyptian mediators continue indirect Hamas-Israel hostage-talks but remain deadlocked.
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 framework text disclosed by Axios on Friday does not address Gaza explicitly; if the Iran framework signs Sunday, the Gaza track becomes the principal structural unresolved regional question. The hostage-family pressure on Netanyahu has compounded through the early-summer phase; the Egyptian-Qatari mediator track remains the only operational channel.