Hamas accuses PM Netanyahu of 'dangerous escalation' after PM orders IDF to seize 70% of Gaza

The Hamas terrorist organization described Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s order for the IDF to seize 70% of the Gaza Strip as a “dangerous escalation” amid continuing fighting in the enclave.

"Israel controls 60% of the Gaza Strip," Netanyahu announced on Thursday during the Jordan Valley Conference. "My directive – 70%. We'll start there."

The head of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, Ismail al-Thawabta, warned on Friday: “Any attempt to impose a new reality of occupation in Gaza is null and illegitimate.”

Hamas Spokesman Bassem Naim also condemned Netanyahu's announcement, telling the news outlet AFP, “In a blatant violation of all agreements, as is their usual practice, Netanyahu announced expanding control over 70 percent of the Gaza Strip, while the killing and starvation continue.”

The Trump administration brokered a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in October 2025, which secured the release of the last 20 living Israeli hostages. The agreement also froze the fighting in Gaza, where the Yellow Line effectively divided the enclave into roughly two halves, with Hamas controlling the western area and Israeli forces controlling the eastern area.

The ceasefire calls for Hamas to disarm and give up its political role in Gaza. However, the group has refused to do so and has repeatedly violated the agreement, including efforts to rearm and regroup. Hamas fighters have increasingly operated near the Yellow Line, close to Israeli positions. In response, the IDF has struck Hamas operatives and expanded its control in Gaza to pressure the group’s leadership.

Israel says its military presence in Gaza is temporary and is intended to boost security until Hamas is dismantled as a threat. The large majority of Gaza’s over two million residents are currently concentrated in the 40% sector controlled by Hamas’ forces.

On Friday, UNICEF spokesman Salim Oweis issued a warning that “people have been crammed into around 40 percent of the space.”

The UN official told media representatives in Geneva that Gaza residents were left “sheltering among broken buildings, rubble and mounting solid waste,” adding that there is no available space left to remove the garbage.

“The effects of this are now widely apparent: children with respiratory infections, acute watery diarrhea and more than half of all households reporting skin diseases,” Oweis stated. “Fleas, lice and scabies are commonplace.”

He also claimed there have been multiple cases of babies and young children being bitten by rats, including one where “they sheltered wherever they could, in their case, the second floor of a building block where sewage water leaks through the ceilings, and rodents crawl through the cracks in the building and climb the exposed pipes.”

Oweis further warned that “increasing numbers of children are requiring hospitalization, all without a single fully functioning hospital across Gaza.”

The UN official said the humanitarian situation in Gaza is “dire,” warning that overcrowding is increasing the spread of disease, straining systems, and reducing services.” Looking ahead, he warned that Israel’s expanded control of Gaza “means that we will lose access to some of the service points, but also [to] some hard to reach places [where] children and families are living.”

Meanwhile, the Israeli military has documented that Hamas terrorists have systematically turned Gaza hospitals and other civilian structures into military bases in violation of international law.

Earlier this week, the Gaza Board of Peace blamed Hamas’ refusal to disarm for the stalled ceasefire and warned that the group’s conduct could lead to renewed military escalation.