Israel’s yellow line in Gaza is moving, expanding IDF’s control, visual investigation shows

Israeli forces have pushed the so-called yellow line, which delineates the parts of Gaza under their control, expanding it well beyond the boundaries established in the October 2025 peace plan proposed by the U.S.

A CBC News visual investigation reveals that the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have moved the yellow concrete blocks that demarcate the boundary farther into Gaza — in some areas, by more than a kilometre — destroying civilian property and creating what some analysts call a de facto “kill zone.”

“If Palestinians approach the blocks, they will be shot at,” said Andreas Krieg, a senior lecturer at the school of security studies at King’s College London, in the U.K.

Between last October and early April, the UN Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory verified the deaths of 196 Palestinians killed in IDF attacks reported near the yellow line, including 18 women and 43 children.

In a statement to CBC News, the IDF said, “It should be emphasized that the IDF does not target civilians solely for approaching the line. The IDF has established rules of engagement which …require the use of warning measures before the application of force.

“These rules are consistent with international law, and the IDF operates only against hostile elements while taking feasible precautions to mitigate harm to uninvolved civilians.”

Block appears next to major highway

Last October, the IDF announced it was placing yellow concrete blocks every 200 metres along the line in order “to establish tactical clarity on the ground.” The head of the country’s military called it the “new border.”

The Israeli military controls the area to the east of the yellow line, while the area to the west is governed by Hamas. The line extends between 1.5 km and 6.5 km into Gaza from the enclave’s eastern boundary with Israel, according to Israeli military maps.

The original line put Israel in control of a little more than half of Gaza. But since the ceasefire was announced, the shifting line means Israel now controls approximately 60 per cent of the territory, the IDF recently confirmed. Last month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to expand the zone to 70 per cent.

On June 29, several users on Telegram, Facebook and X posted a picture of one of these blocks, with some posts claiming it is now “just two metres away from Salah al-Din Road.” CBC verified that the image is new as of June 29 and authentic.

This puts the yellow line right next to a crucial transportation route that stretches across the Gaza Strip.

The shared image shows the distinctive yellow block in a nondescript field bounded by a brick wall, with a destroyed warehouse in the background.

By analyzing satellite imagery and matching it with the content of the photo, the CBC News visual investigation team tracked the block to a field a full kilometre away from the original yellow line, confirming the demarcation line is now mere metres from the Salah al-Din highway.

The block was placed near the entrance to two major refugee camps, Nuseirat and Al-Bureij, and the intersection with Al-Dawa Street, which leads to the Gaza power station.

“Controlling the Salah al-Din Road is part of the IDF’s interest in terms of carving up the territory, making it easier for the IDF to control movement of people and thereby also impose what is, effectively, now an illegal occupation,” Krieg said.

Palestinians fear shifting line

Krieg said the placement of the blocks has created a buffer zone, but Palestinians approaching it from the Hamas-controlled west are risking their lives.

“If Palestinians enter this buffer zone, they basically risk being shot — not just shot at but actually shot,” Krieg said. “So it has become somewhat of a kill zone.”

The aid group Doctors Without Borders has similarly called the yellow line a “kill zone.”

Palestinians in Gaza have told international media the shifting line can put them in danger overnight, as they find themselves suddenly within the Israeli zone of control.

The enforcement of the line is volatile. Palestinians have been pictured standing on or near the concrete blocks, while others — including a three-year-old boy — have been shot while in a safe area close to the line, according to NBC News.

“The yellow line is being fortified with military infrastructure and materialized as a physical border, threatening to make permanent the concentration of 2.1 million Palestinians on less than half of Gaza’s land,” said Ray Adams Row Farr, research editor on the Gaza team at Forensic Architecture, a research agency based out of Goldsmiths, University of London U.K.