Without any public announcement, the IDF is building a massive sand-wall barrier to separate 50-70% of the Gaza Strip from areas controlled by Hamas, the army confirmed on Tuesday.
Earth imaging company Planet Labs PBC observed topographic changes using satellite imagery and provided The Associated PressWhich was the first outlet to break the news.
According to satellite imagery, more than 23 kilometers had been constructed in recent months, running across the entire strip, often through areas that once had Palestinian communities but have long been demolished by the IDF.
Such an extensive sand wall would be equivalent to more than half the length of Gaza, which is about 40 km. Long and 11 km. Wide (at its widest point).
It is unclear whether the IDF’s goal was to eliminate the wall over the entire Strip and whether it wanted to confine Hamas and its more than two million Palestinians to about 30% of the area where they currently live, or closer to the 47% Hamas retained from the October 2025 ceasefire.
The IDF declined to elaborate. jerusalem post On the size, details or more specific goals of the new construction.
In recent months, the IDF has, gradually and without any real fighting, pushed Hamas closer to the 30% line from the 47% line in retaliation for the Gaza terrorist group’s failure to begin the disarmament process, which was scheduled to begin in early 2026.
In contrast, Hamas has said that it is obliged to begin the partial disarmament process only if Israel allows at least a partial reconstruction of Gaza.
To date, the peace board, which is to manage negotiations under an October 2025 ceasefire, has mostly sided with Israel in relation to the dispute, but US President Donald Trump, who heads the board, has loudly opposed any Israeli desire to launch a new major offensive on Hamas-controlled areas of the Strip.
Neither CENTCOM, which is tasked with monitoring the ceasefire, nor the peace board responded. AP Inquiries about barriers.
IDF: New Gaza border is ‘no-go point’
IDF told Post The new border was designed to clear the no-go point for Palestinians living in Hamas-controlled areas, as well as prevent any attempts by the terrorist group to infiltrate Israeli border towns, which are still only a few kilometers away.
A feature of Hamas’s successful invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023 was the ability to infiltrate Israeli border villages within minutes due to their proximity to the Gazan region.
According to Planet Labs PBC, a section of the sand-wall network in southern Gaza extended more than 2 km. Between July 1 and July 15.
At first, the southern Gaza network was about 500 meters long, but then it grew to about 2.4 km, cutting through the al-Mawasi coastal refugee camps to the ruins of the deep southern Gaza city of Rafah.
AP The report said that if construction continued in its current direction, it would add to the longest section of the barrier, which runs almost without breaks for about 17 km. From the central-southern city of Khan Yunis to near Gaza City in the north
Despite Palestinian and international concerns that Israel is potentially pursuing long-term land grabs, the IDF has been forced to retreat from large parts of Gaza several times during the war, even after the creation of large new bases, such as withdrawing from the Morag Corridor in early 2025.