Israel expands ‘yellow line’ military zone, pushing Gazans away from home

Residents and Hamas officials say Israel has moved forward the yellow block markers, triggering new waves of displacement

On a road in Gaza City’s Zeitoun district, Palestinian resident Assem Dawla loaded mattresses and bags onto a truck as concrete yellow blocks marking the edge of Israel’s expanding military zone stood amid the rubble nearby.

He said it was the seventh or eighth time since the war began that he and his family had been forced to leave a shelter because of Israeli evacuation orders and the advance of what residents call the yellow line.

Zeitoun is one of at least five locations across Gaza where residents and Hamas officials say Israel has expanded areas under its control in recent days by moving forward the yellow line, a military demarcation established under a US-brokered ceasefire reached in October.

As men hoisted belongings onto a waiting truck, elderly relatives picked their way through debris. Continued Israeli military activity made it too dangerous to remain, Dawla said.

“We are taking our belongings out and going to leave the place because the occupation [Israel] has moved the yellow line all the way to Salah al-Din Street,” he said.

With the October ceasefire, US President Donald Trump set out a peace plan for Gaza that largely halted major fighting after two years of devastating Israeli war in Gaza triggered by Hamas’ attack on southern Israel.