Residents waking to find line has moved overnight and they are now in free-fire zone as army takes more territory
Israeli forces have been moving an agreed truce line in Gaza westwards over the six months since the ceasefire, expanding their zone of control and making the state of limbo ever more dangerous for Palestinians.
The “yellow line” agreed in the US-brokered ceasefire in October was supposed to be temporary pending further Israeli withdrawals, but the partially observed truce has stalled after its first phase amid disagreements over the disarming of Hamas, and continued Israeli bombardment of Gaza.
Since then, the yellow line has crept forward in several places, expanding the army-controlled area well beyond the 53% of Gaza territory implied in the original ceasefire maps. According to the research agency Forensic Architecture, by December Israel had taken 58% of the strip and continued to edge forwards.
The line is marked in some places by yellow concrete blocks, many of which were moved in December and January as the army took more territory, particularly in urban areas. All over Gaza, residents awoke to find the line had moved overnight and they were suddenly in a free-fire zone.
