Israel’s military and political trajectory in Gaza and the wider regional confrontation has entered a highly volatile phase, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly ordered the army to extend operational control to around 70% of the territory, a development seen as potentially undermining an already fragile ceasefire framework and worsening an acute humanitarian crisis. Under the US-backed ceasefire agreed in October, Israeli forces had withdrawn to a demarcation line that left them in control of roughly 53% of Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday he had ordered the country’s military to take control of 70 percent of the Gaza Strip, in defiance

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he had ordered the country’s military to take...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he ordered the military to expand its control over the Gaza Strip to 70 per cent of the territory, signalling a further…