Israeli Army Presses To Resume Fighting In Gaza, Expands Control To 59%

Israeli Army Radio said senior officials in the General Staff are pressing to resume fighting in the Gaza Strip, arguing that “the best time to defeat Hamas is now,” while it also claimed that “Israel ended the war on Gaza in October, i.e., more than six months ago, without defeating Hamas or dismantling it.”

“The Gaza Strip is once again entering the realm of open possibilities as discussions within Israeli circles intensify about the possibility of resuming military operations”

Al-Jazeera Net

TRT عربي framed the move as preparation “to resume a genocidal war,” reporting that the Israeli occupation army expanded its control to 59% of the Gaza Strip and that, at the start of the ceasefire, Israel controlled 53% of the Strip’s territory.

Al-Jazeera Net

The same TRT عربي account said that after the army gradually moved the Yellow Line westward, it controls about 59% of the land, and it added that on Saturday Hamas leader Bassam Na’im said Israel expanded the Yellow Line toward the western areas by an additional 8% to 9%, bringing the total area under its control to more than 60%.

The ceasefire context in TRT عربي was stark: it said that despite a ceasefire in effect since October 10, Israel continues “the genocide through a sustained siege and daily bombardments,” which it said have killed 828 Palestinians and injured 2,342, “most of them children and women.”

It also said Israel prevents the entry of “the quantities agreed for food, medicines, medical supplies, shelter materials, and ruined homes into Gaza,” where about 2.4 million Palestinians live, including 1.5 million displaced.

In parallel, ميدل ايست اونلاين repeated the Israeli Army Radio framing that senior officers are pressing to resume fighting and that the Southern Command “has finished preparing operational plans and is ready to return to fighting if a decision is issued by political leadership.”

Alongside the territorial shifts described by TRT عربي, the Israeli military’s internal debate over how and when to widen operations was laid out as a question of manpower and timing.

TRT عربي reported that the Israeli Army Radio discussed whether it would be appropriate to launch a wide ground invasion in Gaza while the army faces a shortage of soldiers amid mounting strain on reserve forces, and it said the central question was “how far the army would be able to carry out such a wide ground operation without additional conscription of reserve forces.”

DHnet

It added that this could lead to a “noticeable increase in the burden on reserve soldiers,” who “on average serve about 80 days per year in 2026,” and it said other senior officials at the General Staff Forum see the need to delay any further ground operation in Gaza for at least a few months.

TRT عربي also described a political process around the decision: it said a limited discussion would be held chaired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the meeting of the small Security Cabinet was canceled, and it clarified that ministers were not informed due to the cancellation.

In ميدل ايست اونلاين, the same Israeli Army Radio statements were reproduced, including that “Senior officers in the General Staff are pressing to resume fighting in the Gaza Strip,” and it echoed the claim that the Southern Command is ready to return to fighting if political leadership issues a decision.

That article also connected the operational planning to the ceasefire phases, saying the first phase included “a partial Israeli withdrawal inside Gaza, prisoner exchanges, and limited entry of humanitarian aid,” while the second phase includes “a broader withdrawal by the Israeli army and reconstruction” in exchange for starting disarmament, which it said Israel has not fulfilled.

The dispute over disarmament and the conditions for any further ceasefire phase was presented as a central fault line in both Israeli and Hamas positions, with Hamas portrayed as rejecting disarmament while linking any security arrangements to Palestinian rights.

“Two Canadians who were trying to break the Gaza naval blockade and deliver humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory were arrested after their boat was intercepted by Israeli authorities”

Radio-Canada

TRT عربي said Hamas remains armed and “stressing that it is a resistance movement to Israel,” and it reported that the radio claimed senior General Staff officials in closed talks said the mission in Gaza is not complete and that the army should return to inflicting damage on Hamas for its refusal to disarm.

It also said the radio described readiness for resuming the genocide and claimed that in recent days the army reduced its forces in southern Lebanon and moved regular brigades to the Gaza front and the West Bank.

In Al-Jazeera Net’s framing, the “drums of war are beating again in Gaza” as discussions intensify about resuming military operations, and it described Israeli threats as part of “a broader context of reordering security and political priorities in the region.”

That article said Hamas “stands firm in a decisive stance rejecting the terms of disarming the resistance,” and it added that Hamas “reiterates that any ceasefire cannot be separated from Palestinian rights.”

It also quoted the Hamas position that “its weapons are tied to the presence of the occupation, not merely a bargaining chip,” and it said Hamas argued that Israel’s insistence on linking moving to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement to the disarmament file “obstructs the path to de-escalation.”

Beyond Gaza’s land and air dynamics, the sources also described a separate confrontation at sea involving a pro-Palestinian flotilla and Israeli naval actions in international waters.

RTL Info said organizers of a new flotilla of pro-Palestinian activists reported that their boats were encircled by the Israeli navy in international waters overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, and it quoted the Sumud Global Flotilla statement that “Israeli military ships have illegally encircled the flotilla in international waters and have threatened kidnapping and violence.”

RTL Info

RTL Info added that contact with 11 ships had been lost and that the flotilla was made up of “more than 50 boats” that had departed in recent weeks from Marseille in France, Barcelona in Spain, and Syracuse in Italy, with the boats “currently off the western coast of Crete, Greece.”

It also said that the boats were approached by military speedboats that identified themselves as Israeli, and it quoted the organization on X: “Our boats were approached by military speedboats that identified themselves as Israeli.”

Radio-Canada reported that two Canadians participating in a Gaza flotilla were arrested by Israel after their boat was intercepted by Israeli authorities, and it said the organizer Ehab Lotayef testified to The Canadian Press.

Radio-Canada said the flotilla consisted of about 50 boats and had set out for Gaza from Marseille, Barcelona, and Syracuse, but on Thursday “22 boats, including the one carrying the two Canadians, were intercepted west of the Greek island of Crete, more than 500 nautical miles from Israel and Gaza.”

The flotilla episode also produced competing numbers and competing claims about what Israeli authorities found on board, alongside international reactions.

“This group includes more than 80 organizations that call for an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a political agreement guaranteeing both peoples the right to self-determination and to live in security”

Sud Ouest

DHnet said that about 175 militants from more than 20 boats of the condom flotilla were currently sailing peacefully toward Israel, and it described the ministry’s video claim that it showed “the militants having fun aboard Israeli ships.”

Sud Ouest

Radio-Canada reported that the Israeli foreign minister indicated that 175 pro-Palestinian militants “(211 according to the flotilla)” had been arrested and would be taken to the Greek coast, and it said the ministry had initially claimed the detainees would be transported to Israel but that “an agreement with the Greek government has since been reached.”

Radio-Canada also reported that Israeli authorities said they found only condoms and cocaine on the boats, while the flotilla said it was delivering humanitarian aid, and it quoted the ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein saying early action was necessary due to “the risk of escalation, and the need to prevent violations of a legal blockade.”

It then listed international condemnations, including that Ankara called the seizure of the boats an act of piracy, Rome and Berlin said they were following the situation with great concern, Madrid strongly condemned the boarding, and Paris urged all parties “to respect international law.”

Amnesty International was also quoted as saying that the fact that the Israeli navy sails “hundreds of miles at sea to prevent civilian boats carrying food, infant formula, and medical supplies from reaching Palestinians shows how far Israel is willing to go to maintain its cruel and illegal blockade.”