The Israeli military is constructing a 23-kilometre earthen barrier inside the Gaza Strip, separating the more than 50 per cent of the territory it controls from the rest of the enclave. Satellite images show the berm has been built rapidly in recent months, running through demolished Palestinian communities. The construction, confirmed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to the Associated Press, follows the “yellow line” — the temporary division established under the October 2025 ceasefire with Hamas.

The IDF describes the barrier as part of a “security zone” equipped with intelligence and technological assets, aimed at preventing infiltration and protecting Israeli troops and nearby communities. Israeli officials have declined to specify the barrier’s final length or route. In contrast, Palestinian residents and analysts in the region view the berm as a step toward a permanent border, entrenching the division of the Strip. The US Central Command, tasked with monitoring the ceasefire, and the Board of Peace, the body led by President Trump meant to oversee Gaza, have both declined to comment.

The barrier now stretches more than half the length of the 40-kilometre coastal strip. In the south, a section near Rafah grew from 500 metres to 2.4 kilometres in two weeks, severing the ruined city from the Muwasi tent camps where many displaced Palestinians are concentrated. If construction continues, it will link with a 17-kilometre stretch running from Khan Younis to near Gaza City, creating a near-continuous physical divide. Satellite imagery also shows that Israeli forces have levelled most buildings on the eastern side of the line, carving new roads and military bases on the rubble of towns like Rafah and Bani Suheila. Agricultural land has been destroyed, and the military states it is removing Hamas infrastructure.

The October 2025 ceasefire, brokered by Egypt, Qatar, the United States and Turkey, envisioned the yellow line as a temporary boundary pending a fuller Israeli withdrawal and Hamas’s disarmament. However, the truce has stalled: Hamas has refused to relinquish its military capabilities, and Israeli political and military leaders have openly discussed resuming hostilities. The IDF continues to target Hamas figures, announcing on 21 July the killing of a senior commander in Gaza City who had been involved in the 7 October 2023 attack and was allegedly rebuilding the group’s operational capacity. The yellow line was never precisely defined in the agreement, and some sections of the barrier appear to extend beyond it. With the ceasefire in limbo and no public timeline for its next phase, the earthen berm is solidifying a de facto partition that neither the ceasefire monitors nor the international community have formally addressed.