Dawoud Abu Alkas, Catherine Cartier, Edward Carron and Rami Ayyub
GAZA, Jan 22 (Reuters) - As Israel moved the blocks marking its armistice line with Hamas deeper into one Gaza neighbourhood in December, it destroyed dozens of buildings and displaced Palestinians in violation of a U.S.-backed ceasefire deal, according to satellite imagery reviewed by Reuters and resident testimony. In areas across Gaza, Israel has placed the concrete blocks meant to demarcate its "Yellow Line" dozens or sometimes hundreds of metres inside Hamas-controlled territory, and its military has built up at least six fortifications to station troops, the satellite imagery shows.
The imagery depicts how Israel has unilaterally shifted its line of control in Gaza -- and cordoned off more land where Palestinians could live -- even as President Donald Trump presses ahead with a ceasefire plan that calls for further Israeli troop withdrawals. Nowhere is Israel's widening zone of control more stark than in Al-Tuffah, once a historic quarter of Gaza City but now a wasteland of destroyed buildings and mangled metal following two years of Israeli bombardment. Thousands of Palestinians took shelter in Al-Tuffah after the October ceasefire, which was meant to see Israeli troops retreat to a yellow line marked on military maps that runs nearly the full length of Gaza and hugs the neighbourhood's eastern edge.
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