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Six weeks into the ceasefire in Gaza, most of the enclave’s population is still enduring many of the same conditions that defined the past two years of war. Since the truce went into effect, Israel’s ongoing attacks have killed over 340 Palestinians and injured more than 900. Starvation, disease, psychological warfare, and ongoing bombardment continue to shape daily life, now intensified by the onset of winter.
While Israel has reduced the intensity of its genocidal assault, it has not stopped it; instead, the tactics have shifted from relentless bombardment to a more bureaucratic, long-term strategy of control. At the center of this approach lies the so-called “Yellow Line,” a boundary dividing Gaza into two distinct zones.
Nearly 60 percent of the Strip remains under Israeli occupation: This is the expanding eastern or “green” zone, in which Israeli forces are systematically razing all remaining infrastructure. The western side of the line, or “red” zone, comprising roughly 40 percent of the enclave’s land mass, is where virtually the entire Gazan population has been concentrated and Hamas still exercises some level of control.
Though framed as a marker of eventual Israeli withdrawal, the Yellow Line appears to be laying the groundwork for a deeper, more permanent form of domination that could enable future Israeli settlement. And as diplomatic maneuvers multiply and external actors jockey to reshape Gaza in their own interests, the situation on the ground has only grown more opaque, and the future of civilian life and governance remains profoundly uncertain.
In this episode of The +972 Podcast, we speak with Gazan analyst and +972 contributor Muhammad Shehada about how Trump’s so-called peace plan is helping Israel to engineer a new reality on the ground — while the resilience and determination of Gaza’s population to remain on their land still endures.
