Palestinians across Gaza fear renewed displacement after Israel announced plans to expand its area of control, a move residents and analysts say could leave nearly two million people crammed into 30 per cent of the narrow enclave.
The expansion would significantly enlarge what residents refer to as the “yellow zone”, an area in which Palestinian access is heavily restricted due to Israeli military operations and security measures.
For many displaced Gazans who returned to their damaged homes after a ceasefire began last October, the announcement has revived fears they may once again be forced into displacement camps along the territory's western coastline.
The ceasefire left the Israeli military in control of about 50 per cent of Gaza, on its northern, eastern and southern borders, with Hamas controlling the rest. However, Israel's military has gradually encroached into the group's territory and is now believed to occupy 60 per cent of the enclave.
“Gaza is becoming more confined for us every day. It feels as though it is shrinking,” Eyad Al Agha, 43, told The National.
Mr Al Agha recently returned with his family to their partially destroyed home in Al Qarara, east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, after months of displacement. He said his family repaired what remained of their two-storey home and attempted to rebuild their lives despite severe shortages of water and basic services. “At least we found comfort in being back in our own home," he added.
That sense of stability evaporated, however, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced last week he had ordered the military to increase Israel's area of control in the territory. “When we heard that Netanyahu had decided to expand the yellow zone to cover 70 per cent of Gaza, we realised we would be among the next targets,” Mr Al Agha said. “We gathered our belongings and displaced ourselves once again to Al Mawasi.”
His family of eight now live in a tent in the coastal area, after abandoning their home for a second time.
A map the Israeli military sent to charities in April shows an “orange line” marking its new position, after advancing beyond the yellow line demarcating its area of control under the ceasefire agreement.
Rami Al Majdhoub, a resident of Al Bureij refugee camp in Gaza, believes the Israeli army's recent activity in the area could signal preparations for further advances. Residents awoke recently to the smell of smoke after soldiers set fire to vegetation and open land near the eastern edge of the camp.
“When we left our homes to see what was happening, we found that the Israeli army was setting fire to areas near the yellow zone,” Mr Al Majdhoub told The National. “The army does not usually take such a step unless it intends to expand and advance further.
“I experienced displacement for three months during the war and it was the worst experience of my life. There is nowhere for us to go except a tent and in the summer heat living in a tent is unbearable.”
Political analyst Hani Al Aqqad said the Israeli expansion could have significant humanitarian consequences. “Forcing civilians into an area that does not exceed 30 per cent of the Gaza Strip means even greater environmental and public health disasters,” he told The National.
Mr Al Aqqad said about two million people would be crammed into less than 100 square kilometres if the proposed territorial restrictions are introduced. Humanitarian organisations have repeatedly warned about overcrowding in western Gaza, particularly in coastal areas that have received successive waves of displaced civilians since the war began.
Mr Al Aqqad said many such areas remain targets for Israeli military activity. “Even in areas that are supposed to serve as residential zones for displaced people and should be safe, attacks continue around the clock,” he said.
Israeli officials have framed the expansion of security-controlled areas as part of broader efforts to prevent attacks, dismantle Hamas's military capabilities and maintain operational control over strategic zones in Gaza.
Mr Netanyahu has repeatedly stated that Israel intends to maintain security control over significant parts of Gaza after the war and has argued military pressure remains necessary to achieve those objectives.
Hazem Qassem, a spokesman for Hamas, accused Israel of seeking to impose new realities on the ground through territorial expansion. “The occupation continues, with confidence and without restraint, to pursue the displacement of Gaza’s residents and their removal from their land,” he told The National.
He criticised what he described as a lack of international response to recent Israeli statements regarding territorial expansion.
Gaza suffered extensive destruction and repeated waves of displacement affecting most of the population during two years of war triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which an estimated 1,200 people were killed and about 240 taken hostage.
Much of the territory's housing, infrastructure and public services have been damaged or destroyed. Israeli attacks have killed more than 900 people since the ceasefire began, Gaza health officials say, raising the overall death toll to nearly 73,000.
With Israel's continuing attacks and restrictions on the entry of food, fuel and other essentials, the lives of Gazans have not improved greatly since the end of full-scale fighting. Now, an expansion of Israeli control threatens to make the situation far worse.
“The western areas were already too small to accommodate everyone,” Mr Al Agha said. “Now, more people are expected to move there and the pressure will become impossible.”
