Published on 6/16/2026
Israeli Channel 13 reported that the administration of US President Donald Trump recently halted a military operation that Israel was planning to carry out in the Gaza Strip.
The channel said that the planned military operation was discussed at the highest political and security levels in Israel, but Washington expressed its dissatisfaction after learning the details of the plan, and asked Tel Aviv not to proceed with its implementation.
The channel added that the Israeli army has been working recently to implement what it described as a “gradual and quiet annexation” of lands inside the Gaza Strip, instead of the large military operation that was being prepared for.
For more than two years, the Israeli occupation launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, resulting in the death of about 73,000 Palestinians and the injury of more than 173,000 others, in addition to the widespread destruction that affected 90% of the civilian infrastructure in the Strip.
Hamas criticizes
The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) had previously rejected the Israeli army’s continued movement of the “yellow line” westward into the Gaza Strip and the expansion of its control over Palestinian lands.
She said that the Israeli move represents a violation of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, and aims to “blow up the process of negotiations and thwart the efforts being made.”
During the past week and until Friday, the Israeli army removed the Yellow Line blocks westward by an estimated distance of about 300 meters in several areas of the Gaza Strip, especially in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood, east of Gaza City.
The “yellow line” means the separation line to which the Israeli army withdrew as part of the arrangements for the first phase of the American plan to end the war on Gaza, which entered into force in October 2025, but Tel Aviv did not adhere to it.
Since the ceasefire took effect, the Israeli army has killed and injured dozens of Palestinians, claiming they were trying to cross this line.
On May 15, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged that his army occupied 60% of the Gaza Strip, revealing his government’s intention to expand the area to 70%.
These developments come as Israel continues to violate the ceasefire, by preventing the entry of agreed-upon quantities of food, medicine, medical supplies, shelter materials, and prefabricated homes into the Gaza Strip, and not opening the crossings.
