Israeli occupation forces moved their arbitrarily-created “yellow line” hundreds of meters further into the Gaza Strip Friday, in a direct violation of the ceasefire agreement.
Local media reported that the line was pushed 300 meters westward in the al-Tuffah neighborhood, forcing hundreds of residents to leave under the threat of gunfire.
In al-Shujaiya, Israeli forces set a new yellow line, preventing residents from reaching their homes after aircraft dropped leaflets warning civilians not to cross the newly designated area.
The change caused the displacement of hundreds of families who had returned after the ceasefire began, while remaining residents face continued risks from live fire and explosive-laden vehicles in the area.
According to Al Jazeera News, the yellow line refers to an unmarked boundary where the Israeli military repositioned itself when the deal came into effect last month. It has allowed Israel, which routinely fires at Palestinians who approach the line, to retain control over more than half of the coastal territory.
Reporting from Gaza City on Thursday, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said Israeli soldiers were seen placing yellow blocks and signs to identify the new deployment line, deeper into the city’s eastern neighbourhood of al-Shujaiya.
“But the entire boundary has not been marked, so many Palestinians do not know exactly where it is,” Khoudary said.
“With this latest advancement in Gaza City’s al-Shujaiya, more Palestinians are unable to reach their homes. People say this is a cage, as they’re being pushed and squeezed into the western parts of Gaza.”
The Israeli military has not publicly commented on the reports that it has gone beyond the yellow line in violation of the ceasefire. The move comes amid a surge in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip that have sown fear across the war-ravaged enclave.
The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said on Thursday morning that at least 32 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks over the past 24 hours and another 88 were wounded.
Medics said an Israeli air strike on a house in Bani Suheila, a town east of Khan Younis, killed three people, including a baby girl, and wounded 15 others.
Israel has violated the truce nearly 400 times since it came into force on October 10, according to an Al Jazeera analysis.
A displaced Palestinian man, 36-year-old Mohammed Hamdouna, told the AFP news agency that people are being killed daily in continued shelling.
“We are still living in tents. The cities are rubble, the crossings are still closed, and all the basic necessities of life are still lacking,” he said.
Lina Kuraz, a 33-year-old from the Tuffah neighbourhood east of Gaza City, also told AFP that she was worried about the full-blown war starting up again.
“Every time we try to regain hope, the shelling starts again,” Kuraz said. “When will this nightmare end?”
Quds News reports: A Palestinian woman sought shelter with her children inside a destroyed school near the “yellow line” east of Khan Younis after losing her home and being unable to secure a tent or safe shelter in southern Gaza amid the tightening siege and the lack of humanitarian relief and housing assistance.
According to Truthout, the U.S. and other world powers are reportedly preparing for an indefinite division of Gaza along the Israeli-occupied yellow line, as the U.S.’s plans falter and millions of Palestinians are set to pay the price.
Currently, under the ceasefire agreement that Israel is repeatedly violating, all of the Palestinians in Gaza have been forced into a small zone adjacent to the sea. This zone makes up less than half of Gaza’s land, with Israeli forces occupying a large area entirely surrounding the designated area for Palestinians that makes up 53 percent of the enclave.
U.S. news sources, citing U.S. and European officials, report that there isn’t a set plan for the current division to end, with the lives of millions of Palestinians — living in tents set up amid the rubble — currently in limbo.
The Guardian reports that the U.S. is planning to enclose Palestinians in a “red zone,” as established by the yellow line, where Palestinians would be forced to live among the ruins of Israel’s genocide. Meanwhile, reconstruction would begin in the “green zone,” which is occupied by the Israeli military.
