Israel Has Taken Over About a Third of the Gaza Strip

Israel is now seizing land and threatening to chip away more if Hamas doesn't release hostages

- Dov Lieber, Summer Said & Abeer Ayyoub

Israeli troops have taken over about a third of the Gaza Strip in renewed military action, declaring security zones in swaths of the north and south while pushing out their populations as part of a new strategy to ratchet up pressure on Hamas.

After relying mainly on airstrikes and tactical raids for the first year and a half of the war, Israel is now seizing land and threatening to hold it indefinitely as it presses Hamas to release the hostages still held in Gaza.

The shift reflects a realignment of the country's approach to security to carve out deeper buffer zones in the wake of the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attacks led by Hamas. It is also a way to create new consequences for Hamas by threatening to shrink Palestinians' land if the hostages aren't released.

Since Israel renewed its ground assault in Gaza in mid-March, more than 30% of the enclave has come under Israeli military control, an Israeli official said. Much of the movement has been in the south, where Israel carved out a new security corridor encircling the border city of Rafah and warning the area would become part of Israel's security buffer.

Before moving in, Israel informed Egypt, which borders Rafah, that it intended to keep the area for the long term as a buffer with Rafah completely cut off from cities to the north, Egyptian officials said. Israel also said it planned to expand security zones around Gaza City in the north, the Egyptian officials said.

Israel's military said it was following an updated defense strategy that calls for maintaining a broad military presence in buffer zones that have been cleared of threats. Evacuations are ordered to reduce harm to civilians, it said.

"Many territories are being seized and added to the security zones of the State of Israel, leaving Gaza smaller and more isolated," Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday.