By Dawoud Abu Alkas , Haseeb Alwazeer and Nidal al-Mughrabi
GAZA/CAIRO, May 29 (Reuters) - Hamas said on Friday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's declaration that his country would expand its area of control in Gaza was a dangerous escalation, as residents of the Palestinian territory also voiced alarm at the plan.
Under a ceasefire deal in October Israel's military was to remain in control of 53% of Gaza, but Netanyahu said on Friday that it would expand that area to an initial 70%,
without laying out details or a timeline.
The Palestinian militant group, which triggered two years of devastating warfare in Gaza with its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, described his comments as a plan for ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of Palestinians.
MAJOR DISPUTES POSTPONED
"Any attempt to impose a new reality of occupation in Gaza is null and illegitimate," said Ismail al-Thawabta, head of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, adding that Netanyahu's statement "represents a dangerous escalation".
More than eight months into the ceasefire, and with global attention fixed on the war in Iran, Gaza's underlying conflict remains stubbornly unresolved with continued Israeli attacks, little aid reaching civilians and the risk of major new violence.
Israel has already expanded its area of control in Gaza from the 53% lying behind a "yellow line" mapped into the ceasefire deal up to around 64%, with an area it has designated as restricted in maps shared with aid groups.
Any further reduction in space available to the more than 2 million Gaza residents who are mostly crammed into tents in the tiny Palestinian territory risks worsening already dire conditions there.
"Where do we go? To the sea? There is no space," said Mohammed al-Shagra, 72, in Khan Younis.
Last year's deal brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump established a Board of Peace to oversee a phased ceasefire, and was ratified by the United Nations Security Council.
However, many of the toughest areas of dispute including the disarmament of Hamas, a full Israeli withdrawal and the make-up of a Gaza government were postponed to later in the process. The Board of Peace negotiators have been talking to both sides on the disarmament issue.
Israel and Hamas have repeatedly accused each other of violating the truce. Israeli strikes in Gaza have killed more than 900 Palestinians since the start of the truce while Palestinian militant attacks have killed four Israeli soldiers.
Israel's military and the prime minister's office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for additional information and comment on Netanyahu's statement.
A spokesperson for the Board of Peace said it would not have a comment on Netanyahu's statement. The foreign ministries of permanent U.N. Security Council members Britain and France did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A German foreign ministry spokesperson said Germany was concerned about Israeli plans to take more of Gaza and opposed a permanent division of the Palestinian territory.
RISK OF FURTHER VIOLENCE
Facing elections this year and under pressure for Israel's failure to secure its strategic goals in wars in Iran and Lebanon, Netanyahu may be seeking to bolster his standing with voters.
"He's determined to look tough in front of the electorate and he's blamed by his opponents for having fought this seven-front war, but having won none of the wars," said Max Rodenbeck, Israel-Palestine Project Director at International Crisis Group.
"Unless there's some sort of pushback from the Trump administration it really does risk a return to something very bloody," he added, pointing to other ways in which Israel has been ramping up pressure on Hamas including continued aid restrictions on Gaza and strikes targeting Hamas figures.
For people inside Gaza, where nearly all the population had to flee their homes during the war and with most still living in temporary tents or shelters, the prospect of increased Israeli military pressure is alarming.
"We see no ceasefire or anything and they keep advancing beyond the yellow line. For how long will the world stay silent?" said Mohammed al-Jundi, a displaced man in Gaza City.
In Israel, a return to tougher military pressure is seen by security hawks as the only way to force Hamas to disarm and achieve a longer-term agreement.
"It looks as if we are taking a step towards another collision. But I believe this time it will be much shorter and maybe would open the path towards a new future," said Kobi Michael, a researcher at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies and a former official in the country's strategic affairs ministry.
(Reporting by Dawoud Abu Alkas and Haseeb Alwazeer in Gaza, Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo and Rami Ayyub in Jerusalem; Writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
