Israel has expanded its military occupation in the Gaza Strip in violation of a United States-brokered ‘ceasefire’, forcing Palestinians into an ever-smaller share of the besieged territory, devastated by Israel’s ongoing genocidal war.
Nearly two-thirds of Gaza is now under Israeli military control or subject to access restrictions.
The original ‘Yellow Line’, established under US President Donald Trump’s ۲۰-point plan to end the war, marked the area to which Israeli forces initially withdrew. They were expected to make further withdrawals gradually, but instead, they have seized more territory.
On Sunday, Israeli forces moved yellow concrete blocks dozens of metres west in Shujayea, a neighbourhood in southeastern Gaza City, forcing Palestinian families to flee and bringing more of the neighbourhood under Israeli military control.
“It’s not simply about where the ‘Yellow Line’ is today but where it can move next,” Al Jazeera’s Ibrahim al-Khalili said, reporting from Gaza City. “For families who have been repeatedly displaced in the past three years, the situation remains dire, and they have to make the impossible decision of where they can go.”
More than ۹۰ percent of Gaza’s ۲.۱ million population has been forcibly displaced by Israel’s war, launched on October ۷, ۲۰۲۳, after Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel.
Using maps, Al Jazeera shows how much of Gaza Israel has grabbed since the ‘ceasefire’.
Gaza before the war
Before the war, Palestinians were spread across the Gaza Strip, a ۳۶۵sq km (۱۴۱sq-mile) territory roughly ۴۱km (۲۵ miles) long and from ۶km to ۱۲km (۴ to ۷ miles) wide.
That made it one of the most densely populated places on Earth with about ۶,۰۰۰ people per square kilometre, similar to Nairobi or London. Each person had, on average, about ۱۶۰sq metres (۱,۷۲۲sq ft) of land.
Even then, not all of Gaza’s land was accessible. Israel enforced a buffer zone along the fence with Israel, and Palestinians who approached it risked being shot. In ۲۰۱۰, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimated that the restricted area covered ۱۷ percent of Gaza’s land and ۳۵ percent of its farmland.
Gaza has been under an Israeli land, air and sea blockade since ۲۰۰۷.
Gaza at the ‘ceasefire’
Under the first phase of the “ceasefire”, Israeli forces were to withdraw to the “Yellow Line” within ۲۴ hours, after which a ۷۲-hour period began for the handover of Israeli captives held in Gaza. Trump first published a map of the line on his Truth Social platform.
The line left Israel in control of ۵۳ percent of the Strip, mostly farmland and border areas in the east, and confined Palestinians to the remaining ۴۷ percent, about ۱۷۲sq km (۶۶sq miles).
By October ۲۰۲۵, two years of war had killed more than ۶۷,۰۰۰ Palestinians, and tens of thousands more had left the territory, reducing Gaza’s population to about ۲.۱ million.
Pushed into less than half of Gaza’s territory under the “ceasefire”, its density doubled to about ۱۲,۰۰۰ people per square kilometre, comparable to New York City. Each person was left with about ۸۲sq metres (۸۸۳sq ft).
Gaza today
Since the “ceasefire”, Israeli forces have repeatedly moved the yellow concrete blocks marking the “Yellow Line” farther west, sometimes overnight, expanding the areas under their control. Satellite imagery has also documented continued demolitions in areas held by Israeli forces.
The research group Forensic Architecture estimated that Israel controlled ۵۸ percent of Gaza by December. In March, the Israeli military sent aid agencies maps of a new “orange line”, a restricted zone beyond the “Yellow Line” where humanitarian movements must be coordinated with the army.
According to OCHA, restrictions now cover ۶۵ percent of Gaza. Israel itself said it controls about ۷۰ percent of the territory, a UN official told the Security Council in June.
That leaves ۲.۱ million people in about ۳۵ percent of the Strip, roughly ۱۲۸sq km (۴۹sq miles). The population density has nearly tripled since before the war to about ۱۶,۰۰۰ people per square kilometre, close to central Tokyo.
Each person now has about ۶۱sq metres (۶۵۷sq ft) of land for everything: shelter, roads, schools, hospitals and farmland.
Unlike Tokyo, Gaza has little space left to house its people. The UN Satellite Centre, UNOSAT, found ۸۲ percent of structures in the Strip are damaged or destroyed. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization says only ۳ percent of Gaza’s cropland is both undamaged and accessible.
OCHA says the remaining ۳۵ percent of Gaza is “already overcrowded” and access restrictions are a key obstacle as aid groups try to relocate families before the rainy season. More than ۹۵۰,۰۰۰ people live in displacement sites at risk of flooding, according to the UN, most of them in tents and makeshift shelters, as seen in the satellite image below.
Approaching the ‘Yellow Line” can be deadly. Israel treats areas beyond it as a free-fire zone, and Palestinians who come near it have been shot. Nearly ۱,۵۰۰ people have been killed across Gaza since the ceasefire was announced.
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