The “Yellow Line”: The New Border Confining Gazans to 42% of Their Territory

Shooting All Who Cross: The yellow blocks marking the new military border have turned the return home of displaced people into a death sentence, amid international inaction.

The Israeli army has imposed a new internal military border within the Gaza Strip, known as the "Yellow Line." This demarcation, part of the ceasefire plan proposed by US President Donald Trump, came into effect after its announcement on October 8th. Although Israel has not published its exact route, the line confiscates 58% of the Gaza Strip, keeping large parts of Gaza City, Khan Younis, and Rafah, as well as all border crossings, under its control.

This confinement is only the first phase of a staged withdrawal plan. The second phase envisions a "Red Line"—with an International Stabilization Force—and a third phase where Israeli troops would fall back to a "security zone." But even after this phased withdrawal, Palestinians will remain confined to a territory smaller than before the war, perpetuating Israeli control over the Gazan population.

The Yellow Line functions as an internal military separation cordon. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz clearly defined the purpose of this boundary by warning that any attempt to cross the line "will be met with fire," without distinction between civilians and combatants. Israel has physically marked this border with yellow cement blocks that, according to BBC verification, are often installed several hundred meters beyond the agreed-upon zone, thereby expanding the exclusion area.

The humanitarian impact is catastrophic: the line prevents hundreds of thousands of displaced people from returning to their homes and turns anyone who approaches it into a target. For the Gazan population, the Line redefines the geography of survival. It also means the absolute loss of their livelihoods, which remain on the other side.

The UN Human Rights Office has denounced the "killings of civilians"—mostly displaced people trying to return home—and the "absolute contempt for international humanitarian law," without this leading to an effective response. On October 17th, Israeli soldiers opened fire on a vehicle crossing the line, killing 11 civilians, including women and children.

This mass confinement is the latest chapter in an invasion that Gaza has endured since 2007. The Yellow Line is part of a strategy of territorial cleansing that, with the silent complicity of the international community and the endorsement of the Trump plan, intensifies the displacement of the Gazan population. Far from being a path to peace, it draws a new map of segregation, where the fundamental rights of Palestinians depend on an occupier that acts with complete impunity.

Image source: Al Jazeera