Israel has expanded areas under its military occupation in Gaza in recent days, with residents reporting that the advancing "yellow line" has forced thousands of Palestinians to flee their homes and shelters once again.
Residents in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighbourhood, Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis, Tuffah, Shejaia and northern Rafah told Reuters that Israeli forces have moved the "yellow line" during the past 10 days, triggering fresh waves of forced displacement.
On a road in Gaza City's Zeitoun district, Palestinian residents said families were forced to leave after Israeli forced evacuation orders and the expansion of the military zone.
They said it was the seventh or eighth time since the Israeli genocidal war began that his family had been forced to leave after evacuation orders and the advance of the military zone.
Boundary demarcation shifts
Zeitoun is one of at least five locations across Gaza where residents and Hamas officials say Israel has expanded areas under its occupation in recent days by moving forward the yellow line, a military demarcation established under a US-brokered ceasefire reached in October.
Israel effectively controlled an estimated 64 percent of Gaza by late April, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on 28 May that Israel intends to expand the area under its control to 70 percent of the enclave.
In a statement issued on 20 July, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said an Israeli displacement order in Zeitoun forced 30 families from their tents, which residents said were subsequently destroyed.
Since Israel launched its genocide in Gaza on October 8, 2023, more than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 174,000 wounded, while around 90 percent of the enclave's civilian infrastructure has been destroyed.
