Recent reports say that the so-called ‘yellow line’ has been pushed further into the Gaza side by the IDF, expanding Israel’s zone of control to some 60 percent of the enclave.
Nikolaj Nielsen
Israel’s military advance beyond a Gaza ceasefire line has prompted a rebuke from the European Commission.
Speaking to reporters in Brussels on Monday (4 April), European Commission spokesperson Anouar El Anouni says the EU rejects any attempt at territorial change in the Gaza Strip.
“Let me also recall here that the Trump peace plan itself has been clear, in the sense that Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza,” he said, also citing UN Security Council resolution 2735.
The comments follow the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) expansion into Gaza by pushing past the so-called yellow and orange lines.
The ‘yellow line’ marks a physically-delineated boundary of Israeli-controlled territory, established under a US-brokered ceasefire in October that effectively places around 53 percent of Gaza under Israeli military control.
Beyond it lies the so-called ‘orange line’, an unmarked buffer zone extending roughly 200 to 500 metres into restricted areas, where Israeli tanks have reportedly advanced in the Jabalia area.
The new zone also impacts aid organisations that are required to coordinate their movements with the Israelis, complicating aid efforts.
But recent reports say that the yellow line has been pushed further into the Gaza side, expanding Israel’s zone of control to some 60 percent of the enclave.
This comes amid reports that the United States is shutting down its Israel Command Center, which has overseen the implementation of Donald Trump’s faltering Gaza peace plan.
With Hamas refusing to disarm and Israel continuing its bombardment of the enclave, prospects for a meaningful truce appear increasingly remote.
Up to 850 people have been killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza since the October 2025 ceasefire.
UN experts have also called for Israel to stop targeting areas known to shelter displaced civilians.
Some 90 percent water and sanitation infrastructure has been destroyed or damaged in Gaza, posing a serious health risk amid a spread of rodents, according to the UN agency helping Palestinians (UNRWA).
“The risk of communicable disease outbreaks continues to rise,” said the agency on X.
