IDF control of Gaza Strip jumps over 50%, on the way to vast majority

Israel's primary goal is to seize territory to separate the Gaza civilian population from Hamas and control food distribution, IDF's recent updates indicate. IDF control of the Gaza Strip has jumped more than 50% in recent weeks. At that pace, the IDF is well on its way to controlling the vast majority of the enclave. Whether IDF control of Gaza will stop at about 70% or reach 100%, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a major speech on Wednesday night, is a matter of debate and interpretation.

Even before Operation Gideon’s Chariots intensified earlier this week to further defeat Hamas and take over more Gazan territory, the IDF had taken control of about 50% of Gaza since it renewed hostilities when negotiations for releasing more hostages broke down in March.

On Wednesday night and Thursday, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Col. Avichai Adraee, warned Palestinian civilians in large portions of northern Gaza, including Beit Lahiya and Jabalya, to move toward southern Gaza to avoid the impending IDF expansion of the invasion. How many Palestinians are left in northern Gaza is a widely debated number.  (Read more)