Above photo: AFP via Getty Images.
New satellite images show that the barrier has allowed occupation forces to now control 65 percent of the strip.
According to satellite imagery released on 21 July, the Israeli army is constructing a ground barrier extending hundreds of meters beyond the so-called “Yellow Line” in the occupied and besieged Gaza Strip, effectively partitioning the enclave and deepening its military presence there.
Satellite imagery shows Israeli occupation forces building 23km-long barrier to permanently partition Gaza
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Israeli occupation forces are rapidly constructing a massive earthen barrier inside Gaza, further entrenching their division of the besieged enclave, according to… pic.twitter.com/xwUn3GLUKp— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) July 21, 2026
The imagery, reviewed by both AP and Haaretz newspaper, shows Israeli forces building a 23-kilometer earthen barrier, which has been described as a partition effort.
IDF’s Gaza earthen barrier crosses almost a mile beyond Yellow Line https://t.co/eZ6X3wPSIf
— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) July 22, 2026
The barrier is mainly a trench that has allowed Israel to expand its control and occupation across around 65 percent of the strip.
💢 Israel confirms it is walling off the half of Gaza it controls
The Israeli military has built more than 23 kilometers (14 miles) of earthen barriers cutting through Gaza, physically dividing the roughly 50% of the territory it occupies from the crowded coastal strip where… pic.twitter.com/1FpDWOXwRX
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) July 21, 2026
Varying figures released over recent months indicate Israel could control even more than that.
Gaza Government Media Office:
• “More than 2.4 million people in Gaza have been subjected to genocide, starvation, and ethnic cleansing for 1,000 days.”
• “The rate of total destruction in the Gaza Strip, caused by the occupation (Israel), is 90%.”
• “80% of the Gaza Strip…
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) July 2, 2026
In one part of southern Gaza, the barrier extends beyond the Yellow Line by more than a kilometer, according to Haaretz.
In Khan Yunis, part of the new Israeli barrier extends around 400 meters beyond the line – stretching along the Salah al-Din Road that connects the north and south of the strip.
Haaretz reported that in Rafah, the barrier pushes beyond the line by approximately 1,300 meters in one area.
The Israeli army has been working on this barrier for months, steadily expanding it.
Satellite images have further confirmed what has previously been reported – Israeli troops have systematically razed much of the territory around the Yellow Line, leveling entire towns, destroying agricultural land, carving new road networks, and constructing military bases on the ruins of Palestinian communities.
They also show that construction is advancing rapidly. The expansion has been described as an Israeli bid to partition the Gaza Strip.
“The Israeli military is quietly but quickly building a giant earthen barrier separating the over 50 percent of the Gaza Strip it controls from the rest of the territory,” wrote AP.
More than 23 kilometers have been constructed in recent months, running through Palestinian communities demolished by the [Israeli] military,” the report added.
The Yellow Line was meant to act as an initial perimeter to which troops would withdraw as part of the agreement last year.
Israeli occupation forces have been pushing beyond it and erecting permanent outposts along the line since the launch of the US October 2025 ‘peace plan’ and so-called ceasefire.
Further withdrawals are contingent on “progress” regarding the disarmament of Hamas, which the Palestinian resistance, as a whole, rejects until the formation of an independent Palestinian state.
As the Israeli occupation of Gaza expands, so does a severe health crisis which began as a result of the genocide and has consistently worsened.
Dozens of hospitals have been completely destroyed by Israeli attacks in Gaza since October 2023, resulting in a collapse of the medical sector and the spread of serious infectious diseases and illnesses.
A new chickenpox virus has now spread across Gaza. Almost 10,000 cases have been recorded across displacement camps recently, according to Doctors in Gaza.
“The situation requires urgent intervention. Medicines, medical supplies, and healthcare services must be provided before the crisis worsens,” said Dr Mohammad Abu Afash, director of Medical Relief in the Gaza Strip.
Other serious illnesses, such as cholera, have spread throughout Gaza during the genocide as a result of Tel Aviv’s destruction of the health system.
