A Gaza earthen barrier stretching more than 23 kilometres has been constructed in recent months, according to satellite imagery, physically dividing the portion of the territory Israel controls from the crowded coastal strip where more than two million Palestinians now live.

The scale is difficult to overstate. At roughly 14 miles, the barrier already runs longer than half the length of Gaza itself, which measures about 40 kilometres end to end and 11 kilometres at its widest.

What Israel Confirmed

When presented with the satellite images, the Israeli military acknowledged to The Associated Press that it has built a physical barrier along the so-called yellow line.

That line marks the boundary Israeli troops withdrew to under the October ceasefire agreement with Hamas. The US-backed deal described it as a temporary division, pending a fuller Israeli withdrawal.

The military said it has also developed a security zone around the line, equipped with intelligence and technological assets. It declined to specify the barrier’s intended route or how far construction would extend.

Its stated purpose is preventing infiltration and protecting Israeli troops along with Israeli communities near Gaza.

Neither US Central Command, which monitors the ceasefire, nor the Board of Peace led by President Trump would comment on the barrier.

Building Fast

The pace of construction is what makes the satellite record striking.

According to imagery from Planet Labs PBC, one southern section grew from roughly 500 metres on July 1 to about 2.4 kilometres by July 15. That two-week stretch separates the Israeli-controlled ruins of Rafah from Muwasi, where some of the largest Palestinian tent camps are located.

If work continues along its current path, that section will connect to the longest existing stretch, which runs nearly unbroken for around 17 kilometres from Khan Younis in the south to near Gaza City in the north.

Construction on that segment began in February. Between June 21 and July 7, more than a kilometre was added, passing close to an Israeli military base built atop the ruins of Bani Suheila near Khan Younis.

In the far north, several disconnected berm sections run just outside the largely flattened town of Beit Lahia.

The height of the berms is unclear. In some places they appear to sit outside the yellow line entirely.

What Lies Behind the Line

Satellite imagery documents what has happened to the territory on the Israeli-controlled side.

The vast majority of buildings have been levelled by bulldozers and explosives. Several towns have been virtually erased, including Rafah, which once held more than a quarter of a million people.

New road networks have been carved through the rubble. New military bases sit on the ruins of Palestinian towns. Agricultural land has been destroyed.

The Israeli military says it is demolishing infrastructure used by Hamas.

Gaza’s population, meanwhile, has been compressed into the coastal area west of the line, where most live in squalid tent camps and depend on aid to survive.

A Line Nobody Drew Precisely

One of the more dangerous features of the yellow line is that it was never clearly defined.

Neither the ceasefire agreement nor Israeli or US officials specified its exact route, and it has been marked inconsistently on the ground.

The military told AP it is working to mark the route clearly in order to reduce friction and prevent harm to uninvolved individuals.

That work comes late. Israeli forces have killed Palestinians who approached or crossed the line. The military says it fires on people believed to be militants threatening its troops.

Among the dead have been children and other civilians who appeared unaware the line existed. Some soldiers have said they do not always know who they are shooting at, and have described orders to kill anyone crossing the boundary.

A Ceasefire That Keeps Killing

More than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire began, most in airstrikes and drone strikes. Militant attacks have killed five Israeli soldiers over the same period.

Early Tuesday, an Israeli strike in Gaza City killed Firas al-Masri along with his wife and their four children, aged six to thirteen, according to Shifa Hospital. The Israeli military said only that it had struck Hamas militants in the area at that time.

Ahmad al-Masri, Firas’s brother, lives nearby and heard the children at the moment of the blast.

They were calling out to him, he said, and he could not reach them because the fire was raging.

The Stalled Agreement

Under the ceasefire, Israel is meant to eventually pull back to Gaza’s outer edges, with an international security force taking over.

Implementation has been frozen for months.

A former UN diplomat now coordinating the ceasefire has blamed Hamas’s failure to disarm. Intermittent talks on a formula for decommissioning weapons have produced little. Hamas, in turn, accuses Israel of violating the agreement.

That deadlock is the context in which the barrier keeps growing.

Why Palestinians See a Border Forming

The fear driving Palestinian anxiety is straightforward: temporary arrangements have a way of becoming permanent when they are built in earth and reinforced with military infrastructure.

A withdrawal line marked by patrols can be moved. A withdrawal line marked by a 23-kilometre berm, security zones, new roads and bases built on levelled towns looks considerably more like a frontier.

Most Palestinians in Gaza appear unaware the barrier is even being built, because approaching that area carries lethal risk.

The Numbers Behind the War

The conflict began when Hamas-led militants attacked Israeli communities on Oct. 7, 2023, killing roughly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages.

Israel’s military response has killed more than 73,000 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

That ministry was part of the recently dissolved Hamas-run government. It maintains detailed records that UN agencies and international organisations generally regard as reliable. It does not separate civilians from militants but reports that women and children account for roughly half of all deaths.

What the Barrier Represents

Strip away the diplomatic framing and the physical facts tell their own story.

Half of Gaza has been depopulated and demolished. The other half holds more than two million people in tents. Between them, a barrier is being extended kilometre by kilometre while the agreement that was supposed to make it temporary sits stalled.

Nothing about that arrangement suggests preparation for withdrawal.