BENJAMIN Netanyahu has directed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to increase control of Gaza to 70 per cent.
Speaking at a conference on Thursday, the Israeli Prime Minister said: "We are currently squeezing Hamas. We now control 60% of the territory of the Strip – you know this. We were at 50, we moved to 60. My directive is to move to," he said before someone in the crowd added: "100."
He then said: "Let's go step by step. First of all, 70. Let's start with that. We're pressing them from all sides, we'll deal with the remnants."
This expansion would contradict the terms of the ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hamas in October 2025 and comes as it continues to repeatedly strike Gaza.
Netanyahu is wanted for arrest by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. His Israeli government is separately accused of committing genocide in Gaza by some of the world's leading experts, including the International Association of Genocide Scholars.
At least 738 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire came into effect in October, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
On Wednesday, Israeli defence minister Israel Katz wrote on Twitter/X that his country had "pledged to eliminate everyone who led the October 7 massacre" in 2023.
He added that the "plan for voluntary emigration from Gaza" would be implemented "at the proper time and in the proper manner" – although there are fears this will amount to forced displacement, which is a war crime.
Meanwhile, Hamas confirmed on Wednesday that Israeli air strikes in Gaza City killed the new leader of its military wing less than two weeks after his predecessor was killed.
Hamas said in a statement that Mohammed Odeh died on Tuesday along with his wife and two of his children in an air strike.
At least five people – including Odeh and his family members – were killed and 12 injured in Tuesday’s strike on a market in Gaza City, local hospitals said.
The attack came on the eve of Eid al-Adha, a major Muslim holiday.
Thousands of people gathered on Wednesday for the joint funeral of Odeh’s family in Gaza City.
Mourners covered the four bodies with green Hamas flags and marched from a mosque through the city, chanting and firing shots in the air.
Some carried posters with Odeh’s poster emblazoned with the words “one of the chiefs of staffs of the Qassam Brigades”, referring to Hamas’s military wing.
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