Yellow Line (Gaza)
The Yellow Line refers to a demarcation line dividing the Gaza Strip in two, following the October 2025 Gaza peace plan intended to end the Gaza war.[1] The line separates 47% of the territory in the western area, which is Hamas-controlled, from the 53% of the Gaza Strip controlled by Israel. Almost all Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced to the area west of the line.
Background
As part of the broader, ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Gaza was occupied by Israel during the Six-Day War in 1967. Although Israel maintains that it ended its occupation of Gaza through a disengagement in 2005, international law has continued to regard the Gaza Strip as illegally occupied territory.[2][3] Periodic conflicts between Israel and Palestinian armed groups in Gaza, including Hamas, culminated in the October 7 attacks in 2023, triggering the Gaza war and genocide. The Gaza peace plan aims to end the war through a ceasefire and phased withdrawal of Israeli forces.
The map of the Yellow Line as part of the Gaza peace plan was first released by United States president Donald Trump on his social media platform Truth Social.[4] On 10 October 2025, the Gaza peace plan came into effect.[5] This peace plan envisioned 3 phases, the first of which contained the Israel Defense Forces withdrawing to the Yellow Line. The second phase includes the IDF withdrawing to a Red Line.[6] The second and third phases are to be negotiated between Israel and Hamas, and have not yet occurred.[7]
Description
The area east of the line, covering 53% of the Gaza Strip's territory, is under Israeli military control, while the area west of the line, covering 47% of the Gaza Strip, is controlled by Hamas.[8] The US has referred to the Palestinian-controlled western area as the "red zone" and the Israeli-controlled eastern area as the "green zone".[9]
Israel prevents Palestinians from crossing east of the line, including those displaced from this area during the war, and has killed Palestinians it alleges to have been approaching the line.[8][10] Israel has declared all areas of the Gaza Strip outside of the Yellow Line to be a free-fire zone, regardless of whether the boundary has been marked on the ground.[10] The demarcation line is currently partially marked by yellow-painted concrete blocks laid down by the Israeli military; as of 28 October 2025, around 10–20% of that work has been completed.[11]
Impact
The vast majority of Gaza's population was forcibly displaced during the 2023 war. Currently, their ability to return home is limited both by the widespread destruction of homes themselves, and by Israel preventing Palestinians' return to those parts of Gaza that are on the eastern, Israeli-controlled side of the Yellow Line.[8][12]
As of 2025, the vast majority of the Gaza Strip's population of 2 million people is located in the Palestinian-controlled western portion of Gaza. Estimates vary as to the number of people remaining east of the line. A report from October 2025 stated that hundreds of Palestinians lived in the Israeli-controlled eastern portion, including some Gazans who spoke out against Hamas during the war.[11] Another estimate states that less than 2% of Gazans currently live east of the Yellow Line.[13]
The number of Gazans who lived east of the Yellow Line was in the hundreds of thousands in 2023 (in 2017, the population of Rafah alone was 171,889).[14] The depopulation of this area is a recent phenomenon that occurred since 2023 during the Gaza War, as Israel issued what it described as evacuation orders, and due to actions of the Israeli military that forced the inhabitants of that area to leave.[15]
Analysis
Some Palestinians in Gaza have expressed concerns that the Yellow Line, intended as a temporary ceasefire line, may become a permanent border.[10] Media commentators have observed that the Yellow Line is becoming increasingly entrenched.[11][10]
See also
- Green Line (1949)
- Blue Line (Lebanon, 2000)
- Purple Line (1967 War)
References
- ^ Reals, Tucker (2025-10-09). "Israeli government approves hostage and ceasefire deal". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2025-11-01.
- ^ "Summary of the Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024". International Court of Justice. July 19, 2024. Retrieved 2025-11-18.
- ^ Bantekas, Ilias; Jaber, Safaa S. "The human rights obligations of belligerent occupiers: Israel and the Gazan population". Journal of Conflict and Security Law. 30 (1): 103–120. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
- ^ Stockwell, Billy; Shalev, Tal; Liebermann, Oren (2025-10-04). "Trump calls on Israel to stop bombing Gaza as Hamas agrees to negotiate release of hostages - live updates". CNN. Retrieved 2025-11-01.
- ^ Ferragamo, Mariel (2025-11-19). "A Guide to the Gaza Peace Deal". Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 2025-11-01.
- ^ Haddad, Mohammed (2025-10-09). "Map of Gaza shows how Israeli forces will withdraw under ceasefire deal". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2025-11-06.
- ^ "Questions remain on Donald Trump's Gaza peace plan". DW. 2025-10-13. Retrieved 2025-11-01.
- ^ a b c "'Civilians can't go home': Gaza faces Israel's new 'yellow line'". France 24. 2025-10-31. Retrieved 2025-11-01.
- ^ Graham-Harrison, Emma (14 November 2025). "US military planning for divided Gaza with 'green zone' secured by international and Israeli troops". The Guardian.
- ^ a b c d Tantesh, Seham; Borger, Julian (2025-10-26). "Fears Gaza 'temporary' ceasefire line could become permanent new border". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-11-01.
- ^ a b c Lieber, Dov (2025-10-28). "A Trip to Gaza's New 'Yellow Line' Shows Israel Is Digging In". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2025-11-01.
- ^ "Israel is killing Gazans trying to return to their homes beyond the Yellow Line". Mondoweiss. November 2025.
- ^ Kiros, Hana (2025-11-11). "The Trump Administration Has a New Plan for Gaza". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2025-11-21.
- ^ Preliminary Results of the Population, Housing and Establishments Census, 2017 (PDF). Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) (Report). State of Palestine. February 2018. pp. 64–82. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
- ^ Granados, Samuel; Toler, Aric; Boxerman, Aaron (2025-05-15). "Gazans Once Escaped To Rafah. Now Israel Is Razing It". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-11-22.