Hamas denounces Netanyahu’s plan to expand control in Gaza

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - GAZA — Hamas said on Friday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s declaration that his country would expand its area of control in Gaza was a dangerous escalation, as European states and residents of the Palestinian territory also voiced alarm at the plan.

“In a blatant violation of all agreements, as is their usual practice, Netanyahu announced expanding control over 70 percent of the Gaza Strip, while the killing and starvation continue,” Hamas political bureau member Bassem Naim told AFP news agency.

“Any attempt to impose a new reality of occupation in Gaza is null and illegitimate,” said Ismail Al-Thawabta, head of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, adding that Netanyahu’s statement “represents a dangerous escalation.”

Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem criticized the "complete silence" of US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace and its high representative for Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov, over Israel’s latest military plans.

Failing to condemn Israel's expansionist policies and forced displacement plans raises serious questions about the extent of the sponsoring parties' commitment to obliging Israel to adhere to its obligations under the ceasefire deal, Qassem said in a separate statement.

Under a ceasefire deal in October Israel’s military was to remain in control of 53 percent of Gaza, but Netanyahu said on Friday that it would expand that area to an initial 70 percent, without laying out details or a timeline.

The Palestinian group described his comments as a plan for ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of Palestinians.

More than eight months into the ceasefire, and with global attention fixed on the war in Iran, Gaza’s underlying conflict remains stubbornly ‌unresolved with continued ‌Israeli attacks, little aid reaching civilians and the risk of major new violence.

Israel has already expanded its ‌area ⁠of control in ⁠Gaza from the 53 percent lying behind a “yellow line” mapped into the ceasefire deal up to around 64 percent, with an area it has designated as restricted in maps shared with aid groups.

Any further reduction in space available to the more than 2 million Gaza residents who are mostly crammed into tents in the tiny Palestinian territory risks worsening already dire conditions there.

“Where do we go? To the sea? There is no space,” said Mohammed Al-Shagra, 72, in Khan Younis. Last year’s deal brokered by US President Donald Trump established a Board of Peace to oversee a phased ceasefire, and was ratified by the United Nations Security Council.

However, many of the toughest areas of dispute including the disarmament of Hamas, a full Israeli ⁠withdrawal and the make-up of a Gaza government were postponed to later in the process. ‌The Board of Peace negotiators have been talking to both sides on the disarmament issue.

Israel ‌and Hamas have repeatedly accused each other of violating the truce. Israeli strikes in Gaza have killed more than 900 Palestinians since the start of ‌the truce while Palestinian militant attacks have killed four Israeli soldiers.

A British foreign ministry spokesperson said any further expansion of Israeli control in Gaza would be unacceptable and risk exacerbating an already dire humanitarian situation.

Fellow permanent U.N. Security Council member France did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A German foreign ministry spokesperson said Germany was concerned about Israeli plans to take more of Gaza and opposed a permanent division of the Palestinian territory.

Facing ‌elections this year and under pressure for Israel’s failure to secure its strategic goals in wars in Iran and Lebanon, Netanyahu may be seeking to bolster his standing with voters.

“He’s determined ⁠to look tough in front of ⁠the electorate and he’s blamed by his opponents for having fought this seven-front war, but having won none of the wars,” said Max Rodenbeck, Israel-Palestine Project Director at International Crisis Group.

“Unless there’s some sort of pushback from the Trump administration it really does risk a return to something very bloody,” he added, pointing to other ways in which Israel has been ramping up pressure on Hamas including continued aid restrictions on Gaza and strikes targeting Hamas figures.

For people inside Gaza, where nearly all the population had to flee their homes during the war and with most still living in temporary tents or shelters, the prospect of increased Israeli military pressure is alarming.

“We see no ceasefire or anything and they keep advancing beyond the yellow line. For how long will the world stay silent?” said Mohammed Al-Jundi, a displaced man in Gaza City.

In Israel, a return to tougher military pressure is seen by security hawks as the only way to force Hamas to disarm and achieve a longer-term agreement.

“It looks as if we are taking a step toward another collision. But I believe this time it will be much shorter and maybe would open the path toward a new future,” said Kobi Michael, a researcher at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies and a former official in the country’s strategic affairs ministry.