The expansion of control was enabled by the deployment of additional brigades, including the Golani Brigade, Givati Brigade, Nahal Brigade, and the 401st Armored Brigade, which have rotated through key sectors to maintain pressure on Hamas battalions still operating in fragmented cells.
By Hezy Laing
The IDF has expanded its operational control inside the Gaza Strip from an estimated 53% of the territory to roughly 64%, according to updated assessments from Israeli defense officials.
The increase reflects a series of coordinated advances by divisions operating in central, northern, and southern Gaza, including the 36th Division, the 98th Division, and elements of the Gaza Division, which have been conducting simultaneous raids, clearing operations, and infrastructure dismantling over the past several weeks.
Military sources say the shift from 53% to 64% control represents not only additional ground captured but also the consolidation of previously contested zones.
Areas such as parts of Zeitoun, Shuja’iyya, Jabalia, Khan Yunis, and the Netzarim Corridor have seen intensified IDF activity, with engineering units destroying tunnel shafts, command posts, and weapons‑production sites.
The IDF reports that more than 400 tunnel routes have been mapped or neutralized since the beginning of the campaign, alongside the seizure of thousands of weapons, including RPGs, anti‑tank missiles, and improvised explosive devices.
The expansion of control was enabled by the deployment of additional brigades, including the Golani Brigade, Givati Brigade, Nahal Brigade, and the 401st Armored Brigade, which have rotated through key sectors to maintain pressure on Hamas battalions still operating in fragmented cells.
Israeli intelligence estimates that Hamas’s organized military capacity has been reduced by 60–70%, though pockets of resistance remain in dense urban areas and underground networks.
Humanitarian corridors, including the Netzarim humanitarian route, have been kept open to facilitate the movement of aid trucks from Kerem Shalom and the maritime pier, even as fighting continues nearby.
More than 20,000 aid trucks have entered Gaza since the start of the conflict.
A recently uncovered internal IDF document says the amount of aid allowed into Gaza is more than double the requirements for the local population and that the surplus is likely going to fund Hamas.
Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that the IDF’s objective is to maintain “continuous operational pressure” while preventing Hamas from re‑establishing command structures.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reiterated that operations will continue until Hamas’s military and governing capabilities are dismantled.
