Israel controls 60% of Gaza — and aims to expand hold to 70% amid Hamas war, Benjamin Netanyahu says

(May 29, 2026 / JNS) Israel controls approximately 60% of the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.

He added that he has instructed the Israel Defense Forces to expand that figure to 70% as part of its ongoing campaign against Hamas.

Speaking at the Jordan Valley Conference, Netanyahu said Israel was continuing to increase pressure on the terrorist organization nearly three years after the Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

“Israel controls 60% of the Gaza Strip,” the prime minister said. “My directive—70%. We’ll start there.”

The comments marked the first time Netanyahu publicly set a new territorial objective for Israeli forces in Gaza.

Earlier this month, the prime minister confirmed that the IDF had expanded its control of the enclave from 50% to 60%.

Under the terms of the first phase of the Oct. 10, 2025, ceasefire brokered by the United States, Israeli forces were given control of 53% of Gaza’s territory, east of the truce-established Yellow Line.

“We know exactly what our mission is, and our mission is one: to ensure that Gaza will never again pose a threat to Israel,” Netanyahu said on May 18. “We are carrying out this mission with the help of our heroic soldiers.”

On Thursday, Netanyahu indicated that Israel intends to maintain military pressure on Hamas until the terrorist group’s military and governing capabilities are dismantled.

He spoke a day after the IDF targeted two senior Hamas commanders in northern Gaza.

Israeli security officials were awaiting confirmation that the two terrorists had been killed.

The prime minister also addressed developments on Israel’s northern front, confirming that Israeli forces had crossed the Litani River during operations against Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon.

“Now we attacked in Beirut, we attacked Tyre yesterday, our forces crossed the Litani, we are striking them and will strike them very hard,” Netanyahu said.

His comments followed a wave of Israeli strikes on Wednesday targeting more than 150 Hezbollah sites in Tyre, Nabatieh, the Bekaa Valley and other areas of Southern Lebanon.

The operations came after Hezbollah launched explosive drones toward northern Israeli communities, including Rosh Hanikra and Shlomi.

Israeli officials have repeatedly stated that military operations in Gaza and Lebanon will continue until security threats posed by Hamas and Hezbollah, both Iranian-backed terrorist organizations, are removed.