ISTANBUL

The Israeli army expanded the so-called “yellow zone” in eastern Gaza City, trapping dozens of Palestinian families, in violation of a ceasefire agreement in place since last month, local authorities said Thursday.

The army “widened the yellow-marker area by shifting boundary markers roughly 300 meters into the neighborhoods of Ash-Shaaf, An-Nazzaz and Baghdad Street,” the government media office said in a statement.

The move pushed further into civilian areas, trapping families who were unable to flee as tanks advanced, it added.

The office said Israel made the move only a day after killing 25 Palestinians in airstrikes on Gaza City and Khan Younis on Wednesday in violation of the ceasefire deal.

The media office said Israel has violated the ceasefire agreement daily since it took effect on Oct. 10, with more than 400 breaches recorded, causing the deaths of over 300 Palestinians and hundreds of injuries.

It said the sudden movement of tanks into eastern Gaza City left “dozens of families trapped inside,” adding that authorities “cannot determine the fate” of many of them because of ongoing shelling.

The “yellow line” refers to the zone to which Israeli forces have withdrawn under the ceasefire agreement. It is a non-physical partition that runs through the Gaza Strip, dividing the Palestinian territory in half, south of Gaza City and north of Khan Younis.

The media office called on the ceasefire’s guarantors – Türkiye, the US, Egypt, and Qatar – to act immediately to stop “the ongoing crimes,” and ensure the entry of food, shelter materials, medical supplies, and infrastructure equipment.

Israel has not commented on the statement as of yet.

Since October 2023, the Israeli army has killed nearly 70,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, injured over 170,800, and reduced the enclave to rubble.