Israel builds giant earthen barrier in Gaza, fueling annexation fears

The Israeli army is building a giant earthen barrier to separate the more than 50 percent of Gaza under its control from the rest of the enclave, satellite images show, fuelling Palestinian fears that most of the territory will never be relinquished by Israel.

The barrier consists of an earth berm and a trench and extends well beyond the so-called “yellow line” that is supposed to demarcate the border between Israeli-controlled and Palestinian territory under a US-backed ceasefire agreement signed in October 2025, Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Haaretz said that in Khan Younis the barrier is about 400 metres (quarter of a mile) past the yellow line, and at one point in the Rafah area it reaches approximately 1,300 metres (4,260 feet) beyond the line.

Built over the past few months, the barrier is already longer than 23km (14 miles), according to the AP news agency. The entire Gaza Strip is around 40km (25 miles) long.

The barrier cuts through Palestinian communities whose homes, infrastructure, and agricultural land have already been destroyed during Israel’s genocidal war that began in 2023.

Israel has also created new roads and established bases on the ruins of Palestinian towns. Palestinians fear that they will never be able to return to their land, and some Israeli officials have openly said they intend to appropriate some of it.

“I intend to establish three Nahal outposts, which is also a military entity, in those places that were in northern Gaza,” Defence Minister Israel Katz told Channel 14 last week.

On Sunday, thousands of Israelis, including settlers and right-wing activists, marched towards the border with Gaza and called on the government to re-establish Israeli settlements.

“We are walking today to tell the government of Israel and show all the world that this land belongs to us and that Gaza really belongs to us and that we want to go back there,” said march participant Daniel Sellem.

Palestinians in Gaza, meanwhile, are confined to crowded tent camps in the coastal area west of the yellow line, where they are still being targeted by Israeli airstrikes and facing shortages of aid and supplies.

Asked by AP to comment on the satellite images, the Israeli military said it was building a physical barrier in the area of the yellow line.

The ceasefire deal envisaged the yellow line as a temporary demarcation pending the Israeli army’s eventual withdrawal to the edges of Gaza, to be replaced by an international force.

But Israel has mostly ignored the truce and appears to be digging in, heightening Palestinian fears that the line is morphing into a border.

Israeli forces have killed Palestinians who came close to the line or crossed it. The Israeli military says it fires on those believed to be militants threatening its troops. But those killed have included children and other civilians seemingly unaware of the line. Some soldiers have said they don’t always know who they are firing on and have orders to kill anyone crossing the boundary.